Infinity Grand prix
by Crinos
Summary: UPDATE: WOOH! Finally updated. Many thanks fo my new cowriter Chance O' Neil Zudomon50 for his contribution. I'll try and update more regularly from now on. Due dates for all votes is October 17th.
1. Infinity Grand Prix FAQ

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Infinity Grand Prix FAQ

What is the infinity Grand Prix? 

The Infinity Grand Prix is a large scale fighting game crossover fanfic, which follows a royal rumble format. It is based off an existing fanfic called the UVR.

What is the UVR? 

The UVR is a fighting game crossover fanfic that inspired the Infinity Grand prix. It was originally written by Birdman, who turned over the reins to Thomas "Wanderer" Wilde. And is currently being written by Gavok (Who was kind enough to give me permission to do the grand prix.) The UVR can be found at this link: 

So how is your Rumble different from there's? 

Well, for one thing my rumble has more fighters in it, it also has fighters from different games than the UVR, there are some other differences, but I wouldn't want to spoil the fanfic for anyone.

Hey wait a second, how come you have anime guys in this thing? I thought it was fighting game characters only! 

Technically only fighting game characters only are allowed. However certain anime series have had fighting games based off them, giving me a loophole to include such characters as Ranma and Inuyasha. (That also explains why characters who are "dead" like Zazuba and Haku, or who totally suck at fighting like Gosunkugi are competing.)

Hey, Rock Howard really Isn't that old yet, and Geese is dead, so is Pyron. What's up with that? 

Well, to include the fighters I wanted and make the story more interesting to read, I took certain liberties with the fighting game story lines (Which are fairly confusing to begin with, so bear with me.). Other than the changes I've made, the story behind the guys is essentially the same.

Hey, how come you write a certain guy the way you do? 

This actually comes from the UVR, who wrote up certain character with particular quirks. (Like Haohmaru and Genjuro talking too much and Yoshimitsu being a comedic character.) I kept this in as a sort of tribute to the UVR.

Hey, I don't recognize half the guys competing, what games do they come from. 

Some of the fighters I use come from relatively obscure games or games that are only out in Japan at this particular point. I think the game most people won't yet recognize is Waku Waku 7. Info for that game can be found here: 

Another game people may not recognize is Dream mix world fighters, which is currently only out in japan. The website for that game is at (Its in Japanese however.)

Information on any other fighters can be found at either http:kattuggla.oru.se/dmd01/dm0103/test/ (fighter mania, a large database of fighting game characters) and at (on which you can search for the desired game.)

What is the voting format for this tournament? 

After each section I will post a Vote form which will list the fighters who are competing in this round. At the start of each round there will be 20 fighters in the ring. And at least 10 fighters will be eliminated by the end. Voters will dispense 10 live votes among the fighters they want to see make it another round, and 10 die votes among those they don't want to see survive. Die votes are subtracted from live votes, and the fighters with the most live votes survive the round.

There will also be bonus matches who one can vote for, these represent battles going on outside the ring.

How do you take into account fatigue? 

At the beginning of each round, any fighters that are still in the ring from the last round get one automatic die vote. This is cumulative. (Which means if a guy is in the ring for three rounds, they will have three die votes at the beginning of round four.)

What about these "Big guys" and "Really big guys" 

This is another concept from the UVR, basically its used to represent boss characters, characters with massive area attacks, or just guys who are very big.

For each big guy in the ring, no matter how crappily he does, one additional fighter will be eliminated that round. For each really big guy, two additional fighters will be eliminated.

11.How do you determine who eliminates who?

The top ten fighters, (that is the ten fighters who get the most votes) will each get one elimination each. (Even if they don't survive the round.) If more than ten people are eliminated, then the elimination counting will restart itself again. (So If twelve people are eliminated, the fighter with the most live votes will get two elimination's, as would the second place fighter.)

As for who eliminates whom that is mainly determined by luck, or my personal preference.

How do we vote? 

You can either leave your votes in the reviews section, or you can email me at , just fill out the vote form for each section with your votes. All vote forms must be submitted by the deadline, and must be filled out in full with 10 live votes and 10 die votes for the main rumble. (Voting on the bonus matches is optional.)

What if we have any other questions? 

Feel free to email me with any further questions or comments. I don't take kindly to Spam or flame mail though, so send such at your own risk.


	2. Infinity Grand Prix fight card

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Infinity grand prix fight card (350 fighters total)

((B) Means big guy)

( (BB) Means really big guy)

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (56 fighters)

Abyss (B)

Akuma

Amingo

Anakaris

B.B hood

Blackheart

Cable

Cammy

Captain America

Captain Commando

Charlie

Chun Li

Colossus (B)

Cyclops

Dan

Dhalsim

Dr. Doom (B)

Felica

Gambit

Guile

Hayato

Hulk (B)

Ice man

Iron man

Jill Valentine

Jin Saotome

Juggernaut (BB)

Ken

M. Bison (B)

Magneto (BB)

Marrow

Mega man

Morrigan

Omega Red

Psylocke

Rogue

Roll

Ruby Heart

Ryu

Sabertooth

Sakura

Sentinel (B)

Servbot

Shuma Gorath

Silver Samurai

SonSon

Spider man

Spiral

Storm

Strider Hiryu

Thanos (BB)

Tron Bonne

War Machine

Venom

Wolverine

Zangeif (B)

****

Capcom vs. snk (45 fighters)

Athena Asamiya

Balrog

Benimaru

Blanka

Chang Koehan (B)

Eagle

Edmond Honda (B)

Geese Howard (B)

Haohmaru

Hibiki Takane

Iori Yagami

Joe Higashi

Kim Kaphwan

King

Kyo Kusanagi

Kyosuke Kagami

Mai Shiranui

Maki

Nakoruru

Raiden (B)

Rock Howard

Rolento

Rugal Bernstein (B)

Ryo Sakazaki

Ryuhaku Todo

Ryuji Yamakazi

Sagat (B)

Terry Bogard

Vega

Vice

Yun

Yuri Sakazaki

Choi Bounge

Demitri Maximoff

Earthquake (B)

Genjuro

Goentiz (BB)

Hugo (B)

Kasumi Todo

Mars people

Takuma Sakazaki/Mr. Karate (B)

Red Arremer (B)

Shiki

Tessa

Zero

****

Super smash brothers melee (23 fighters)

Mario

Bowser (B)

Peach

Yoshi

Donkey Kong (B)

Captain Falcon

Fox

Ness

Kirby

Sheik/Zelda

Samus

Link

Pikachu

Ice climbers

Luigi

Jigglypuff

Marth

Mewtwo (B)

Mr. Game and watch

Falco

Pichu

Ganondorf (B)

Roy

****

Inuyasha: a feudal fairytale (11 fighters)

Inuyasha

Kagome

Shippo

Kikyo (B)

Sango

Miroku (BB)

Totosai

Naraku (B)

Kugara

Koga

Sesshomaru (B)

****

Waku Waku 7 (9 fighters)

Arina

Rai

Slash

Tesse

Mauru

Dandy-J

Politank Z

Bonus Kun

Fernandeath (BB)

****

KOF 2001 (29 fighters)

K'

Maxima

Whip

Lin

Goro Daimon

Shingo Yabuki

Seth

Vanessa

Ramon

Andy Bogard

Blue Mary

Robert Garcia

Heidern

Leona

Ralf Jones

Clark Steel

Sie Kensou

Chin Gensai

Bao

Hinako Shijou

Li Xiangfei

May lee

Kula Diamond

Foxy

K9999

Angel

Zero (B)

Igniz (B)

Jhun Hoon (KOF 2000)

****

Ranma ½ hard battle (12 fighters)

Ranma Saotome

Akane Tendo

Shampoo

Mousse

Ukyo

Genma Saotome (B)

Gosunkugi

Gambling king

Ryouga

Pantyhose Tarou (B)

Happosai (B)

Tatewaki Kuno (Battle renaissance)

****

Guilty gear XX (20 fighters)

Anji Mito

Axl Low

Baiken

Bridget

Chipp Zanuff

Dizzy (BB)

Faust (B)

I-no (B)

Johnny

Kuradoberi Jam

Ky Kiske

May

Millia Rage

Potemkin (B)

Slayer (B)

Sol Badguy

Testament (B)

Venom

Zappa

Eddie

****

Naruto (18 fighters)

Naruto

Sasuke

Sakura

Rock Lee

Ino

Kakashi

Kiba

Hinata

Gaara

Haku

Neji

Kankuro

Iruka

Gai

Mizuki

Orochimaru (B)

Zazuba

Darkstalkers 3 (13 fighters)

Bishamon

Donovan

Hsien-Ko

Hutzil (B)

Jedah (B)

Jon Talbain

Lillith

Lord Raptor

Pyron (B)

Q-bee

Rikou

Sasquatch

Victor von Gerdenheim (B)

****

Street fighter 3: third strike (14 fighters)

Alex (B)

Dudley

Elena

Gill (B)

Ibuki

Makoto

Necro

Oro

Q

Remy

Sean

Twelve

Urien

Yang

****

Dream mix TV: World fighter's (17)

Power pro-kun

Simon Belmont

Twinbee

Solid snake

Moai (B)

Licca

Tyson

Optimus Prime (B)

Microman

Asuka

Megatron (B)

Bomberman

Momotaru

Master Higgins

Yugo

Manjimaru

Bimbougami

****

War gods (12)

Ahua kin

Anubis

Cy-5

Exor (B)

Grok (B)

Kabuki Jo

Maximus

Pagan

Tak (B)

Vallah

Warhead

Voodoo

****

Maverick fighters (24)

Allesi (Jojo's bizarre adventure)

Xavier Pendragon (eternal champions)

Voldo (soul calibur 2)

Bass Armstrong (B) (DOA 3)

Cody (street fighter alpha 3)

Judgement (battle arena toshinden)

Kusaregedo (B) (Samurai showdown 5)

Mr. Satan (DBZ Budokai 2)

Jack (power stones)

Shang Tsung (Mortal Kombat Trilogy)

Fulgore (Killer instinct 2)

Mud man (world heroes perfect)

Hajime Busuzima (Bloody roar 3)

King Corn Karn (pro wrestling)

Batman (Justice league task force)

Kenshin Himura (Ruroni Kenshin)

Wolf Hawkfield (Virtua fighter 4)

Leopaldon (BB) (Guilty gear Isuka)

Rancid (Time Killers)

Yoshimitsu (Tekken 4)

Asmodeus (BB) (Mace: the Dark Age)

To be announced

To be announced

To be announced

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LATE MINUTE ENTRIES:

Galactic wrestling featuring ultimate muscle (35 fighters)

Kid Muscle

Terry Kenyon

Dik Dik Van Dik

Kevin Mask

Jeager

Checkmate

Eskara

Hanzo

Bone cold

King Muscle

Terryman

Ramenman

Buffaloman (B)

Robin Mask

Brocken Jr.

Sunshine (B)

Warsman

Ninja Ned

Skullduggery

Shivano (B)

Manitoban

Specialman

Blackhole

Starface

Sosumi

Beetlebomb

Neptuneman

Big Budo

Prince Lou Ow

Rogue Shogun (B)

Grandpa

Vance McMadd

Comrade Turbinski

Wally Tuskit

Ricardo

****

Digimon Rumble Arena (12 fighters)

Agumon

Gabumon

Patamon

Gatomon

V-mon

Wormmon

Black Wargreymon (B)

Guilmon

Terriermon

Renamon

Impmon

Reapermon (B)

****


	3. Infinity Grand Prix Prolouge

"Ultimate Video rumble three: Reinventing the wheel"

Crinos looked over the flyer again, he had watched the first two UVR's as well as this one, and he loved all of them, He loved the fighting, the massive take over the world plots, the idea of fighters from all different worlds, species and walks of life interacting.

So that's why he had decided to hold his own.

After weeks of putting it off, after re-writing the fight card countless time, Crinos had done it, he had created a tournament of 300 fighters, who would punch, kick, bite, and blast the living tar out of one another for the biggest prize in the business.

The Infinity gems.

Crinos had won them in a poker game the week before, the six most powerful objects in reality, locked in a magical safe box which was tucked away in an alternate reality. The winner of the tournament would be granted ownership of the gems for one whole year, to do with whatever he wanted; he could destroy the universe, enslave all creation, or put it on his mantle for bragging rights, Crinos didn't care. After all, the node he had created for this tournament was immune to the gems power, and any damage the user would have done with the gems would be undone in a year when the Gems returned to Crinos' ownership.

Crinos had everything planned out; he would use versions of the fighter from an alternate timeline that never participated in the UVR (That way he could avoid sticky scheduling problems with the UVR.) And aside from the inspiration, the new tournament would not be connected to the tournament in any ways.

Crinos looked over his new sparkling arena with pride, it was large, with a skylight and a retractable dome, the entire affair was built out of gleaming darksteel, which not only made the Arena impervious to physical harm, but also gave the Arena a gloomy and sinister feel to it.

The Ring itself was large and wide, specifically designed to hold such giants as the Juggernaut, The Incredible Hulk, The Abyss and Fernandeath all at once. It too was made of darksteel, with energy ropes around it, which would give one nasty burn if someone held onto them for more than a few seconds.

But its what was below the Arena which was the Killer.

In his Journeys Crinos had discovered a place called the Jusenkyo springs. With help from a scientist named Washuu, Crinos had managed to replicate the springs and place them beneath his ring (which itself hung in mid air.) Anyone falling in would not only lose, but also be cursed by the springs for the duration of the tournament, unless they managed to clear the some hundred feet of cursed waters which spread out in every direction.

There were only three ways out of the ring once the tournament started, by being thrown out, by winning, or by dying.

Of course, in the case of the Latter, Crinos had staff on hand that could raise the dead, so no permanent injury would be suffered.

Crinos magically conjured his checklist and looked it over, he had gotten the node, the ring, the hotel, and also a full staff. All that was left now was to send out the Invitations.

Crinos could barely contain his anticipation; after months of planning, it was finally about to begin.

The Infinity Grand Prix had finally begun.

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INFINITY GRAND PRIX

Prologue.

(Authors note: All characters are property of their respective owners, The Original concept for the UVR came from Christopher "Birdman" Bird, Wanderer, and Gavok, who was kind enough to give mer permission to go on with this.)

_Tokyo Japan_

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It was dark, the wind howled around her as she looked around. In the distance, thunder clapped.

Then the screams began, horrible piercing shrieks from all directions, she looked around, panicked, part of her wanted to run, the other half wanting to try and help those who were screaming.

She turned around, lost and afraid in the darkness, and then she saw it.

She saw the devil.

Athena Asamiya sat up in bed. Her body drenched with ice cold sweat.

She scanned her hotel room, it was dark, but not as dark as it was in the nightmare. In the bed adjacent to her she could see her young teammate Bao, sprawled out on the bed, snoring. On a couch across the room, Sie Kensou also lay, sleeping. Chin Gensai was missing, but Athena expected that; the old drunken master was no doubt pub crawling as per usual of the old drunken master.

Athena Buried her face in her hands breathed deeply, she had been having the same nightmare for the last three weeks, ever since she and the rest of the Psycho soldiers had received an invitation to a grand new tournament of fighters called "The Infinity Grand Prix." Athena did not know what was wrong with her, or why she was having such nightmares, and they were beginning to wear her down.

But she had not mentioned anything to her teammates, Athena cared for them deeply and did not want them to be worried for her sake. Whatever was wrong with her, she would deal with it by herself, she did not want others to be hurt because of her.

Athena lay back down in her bed, and pulled the covers up around her, trying to get back to sleep.

What she didn't know was that Sie Kensou was watching her, very much awake.

Sie loved Athena with all his heart and soul, he was also very much aware that something was up with her. But Athena was a kind and gentle soul, she would never think of inconveniencing others by asking them for help, which was one of the things he loved about her.

Sie sighed as he rolled over in the couch, he knew whatever was bugging Athena, it had to do with the tournament. He had considered asking Athena if she wanted to call it off, but Sie knew that if Athena thought she was holding the others back it would make her feel worse, so he kept quiet.

Whatever was wrong with Athena, this tournament was the cause of it, and Sie was determined to keep Athena safe, no matter what.

_Akuma's Island_

Akuma stood at the shore of his craggy island, looking out at the sea, he thought back to the invitation he had received recently for a tournament. He recognized some of the names on the list, but the majority of them were new to him.

Akuma's concentration was broken by the audible sound of a fog horn in the distance. The master of fists scowled a bit, yet another ship had dared to encroach on his territory.

Akuma pulled back into his traditional pose, insolence was to be dealt with in the quickest and harshest manner possible.

Besides which, oil tankers were great target practice, and Akuma needed all the training he could get.

"Messatsu…"

As Akuma spoke, energy began to collect in the palms of his hand.

"Gou…"

More and more energy collected in his hands, eventually forming a purple ball. Akuma smiled, it was time to say goodbye.

"HADOU!!!"

A massive pillar of energy escaped the palms of Akuma's hands, parting the waters as it flew to its destination. A few minutes later a large explosion could be heard in the distance.

Akuma stretched his neck and turned to begin the long walk back to his cave. No doubt the explosion would bring other ships to the outskirts of the island, as well as a clean up crew for the oil.

Akuma didn't care however, after all, it was another week until the tournament, and he could use all the practice he could get.

_Castle Aensland_

Morrigan sat in her throne and sipped her tea, looking over the Invite. She had little interest in these petty mortal affairs, even if the prize was an object of unimaginable power.

Morrigan had other things to worry about.

"Morrigan-chan!" A young bubbly voice echoed through the halls of the old mansion, Morrigan rolled her eyes as Lillith, Morrigan's little sister, soul mate, and part time lover fluttered in.

"Lillith chan, what is it?"

Lillith pulled her invitation to the tournament out of her front and showed it to Morrigan. "Look sister, we were both invited! I'm sooooo excited! Wanna play?" Lillith then flew over and gave her sister a tight hug.

Morrigan smiled a bit, "playing" could be fun, but maybe later, right now they had planning to do.

"Lillith, remember, we have to be careful if we go to this thing, Demitri and Jedah will both be there, and they still have beefs with our family. And also don't forget, our Primary concern is to get help for Daddy."

Lillith looked down glumly, in all her excitement she had forgotten about their father and his current condition. "So does that mean we cant play now?"

Morrigan smiled cattily and wrapped his arms around Lillith's body.

"Well now, I didn't say that…"

_Hidden leaf village_

"I'm sure you all know why you're here."

Tsunade sat across from Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, her hands folded on her desk. Kakashi leaned against the door, reading through his latest issue of "Come-Come paradise". Naruto was unusually excited by virtue of having received his invitation this morning.

"I sure do know why were here boss lady!" Naruto shouted, leaping up on Tsunade's desk. "And I promise I will bring honor and prestige to the hidden leaf when I win this tournament! Cause I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

Sasuke and Sakura planted their faces in their hand, while Kakashi rolled his visible eye at Naruto's antics. Twitching, Tsunade grabbed the young Genin by the collar and pulled him down.

"Read. The. Fine. Print!" Tsunade shoved the invitation into Naruto's face. "Orochimaru is competing, as is that traitor Mizuki. Its dangerous."

Naruto looked over the invite, Tsunade made a very good point.

"Yeah, but besides them, all the people from our world that were invited are from the hidden leaf and hidden sand, we'll have him outnumbered! No sweat!"

Tsunade sighed and furrowed her brow, although Naruto had a very good point, he doubted that even the collective of the hidden leaf could take on Orochimaru.

"Something odd I noticed on the Invite." Sasuke said, pulling his out. "It says that Haku and Zazuba are competing, but there dead."

Kakashi looked up, "Yeah I noticed that too, maybe whoever's throwing this tournament doesn't know there dead."

Regardless of whether there alive or not, I want you and the rest of the leaf to be on your guard, unfortunately I wont be able to go with you, since I have work to do here. But I've already told Jiraya about this, and he will be acting as top officer while you're in that other world."

"ALRIGHT! ROAD TRIP WITH PERVERT SENNIN!" Naruto was up on the deck again, this time Sakura and Sasuke teamed up to pull him down and out through the door.

"Thank you for letting us go to this tournament Tsunade Sama" Sakura said sheepishly after they had gotten Naruto out the door.

"Your welcome Sakura, and be sure to remember what I've been teaching you."

As Sakura left, Tsunade turned to Kakashi.

"Send Gai in when you leave, I'm talking to his team next. And be careful at the tournament, I have a bad feeling."

Kakashi gave a two-finger salute as he walked out. Tsunade sighed and prayed that the other leaf teams would have more restraint than Naruto did.

_Tendo Dojo_

"So it's a fighting tournament huh? Sounds like fun, things have been getting boring around here lately."

Ranma Saotome had never thought he would hear himself say those words, especially considering that he lived in Nerima, whose major exports were martial arts masters and property damage. But since the defeat of the Pheonix people and his failed marriage attempt to Akane things had been going rather slowly around the old homestead.

"I don't know Ranma," Akane said, looking over her invite, "I don't recognize a lot of names on this list. And the ones I do…"

"So I get to kick around a few new freaks, big whoop." Ranma had looked over his invite again, according to it, himself, his father, Akane, his other fiancee's (except Kodachi, thank goodness) his regular rivals, that old pervert Happosai and Pantyhose Tarou were all attending, as well as Hikaru Gosunkugi for some strange reason. (Probably whoever put this thing together listed him by mistake, pretty sloppy but whatever.) "But hey, If you're scared of fighting, you can stay home."

Akane raised the proverbial eyebrow, "I beg your pardon?"

Ranma just smiled and shrugged, turning away from Akane. "Well, we all know you're pretty weak, so even if you do go you'll be beaten in a matter of seconds. Maybe you should stay home after all."

There were many constants in the universe: The sun rose, fish swam under water, the war gods sucked.

And Ranma Saotome just didn't know when to keep his big martial artist mouth shut.

"RANMA NO BAKA!"

With the obligatory battle cry, Akane sent Ranma into low orbit with one hand, any apprehensions she had about competing in this strange new tournament were gone. She was determined to fight, and to kick Ranma's sorry ASS.

But little did Akane realize that she had more reason to be worried than she expected, for she was being watched. …

_Castle Maximov_

Demitri sat upon his throne and watched the exchange between Akane and Ranma through a mystical portal of energy. By the throne stood the towering energy being known as Pyron.

"So, she is the one he loves more than the others." Maximov mused, twirling a wine glass filled with a red substance that any idiot could guess was blood. "She has a fiery temper about her," Maximov sipped from his glass. "I can't wait to break her."

"Then I take it the women are satisfactory" Said Pyron, his cold Inhuman voice echoing through the lonely halls of the castle.

"Yes Pyron, you've actually proven useful to me for something other than a power source." Maximov chuckled and flared his energy aura, displaying the energy he had stolen from Pyron in one of their previous battles.

To his credit, Pyron did not respond to Demitri's taunting. "There are four in all. This one, an Okonomiyaki chef named Ukyo, a Chinese Amazon named Shan Pu, and a somewhat deranged gymnast named Kodachi."

Demitri smirked, "And they are all competing in this tournament I take it?"

Pyron shook its head "The one called Kodachi is not competing, but her brother is, so she will be attending as a corner person."

"I see, excellent. They will make fine brides. You have done well Pyron."

"So you will agree to the terms I have set out?"

Maximov waved his hand playfully. "Of course, of course, In exchange for locating these four for me I will cease all hostile activities towards you and your minions. Now be gone before I decide to change my mind."

"Thank you Lord Maximov, you have made the right decision."

Pyron vanished from the castle in a brilliant flash of light, materializing in the underground ruins of an Aztec temple, his giant robot minion Hutzil and his ward Cecil waiting for him.

"Senor Pyron, you have returned." Cecil bowed to the towering alien, the robot mimicking the boys' movements. "Did all go as planned?"

If Pyron were able to smile, he would have. "Yes young dust mote, all goes according to plan, that fool has fallen for the bait, and soon I will once again have the power that made the very stars quake, and the great eater of planets will return!"

_Feudal era japan_

"Some stupid tournament? Big deal."

Inuyasha looked over the invite, sniffing it a few times for good measure as he, Kagome, Sango and Miroku sat by the enchanted well. He really didn't give a rat's ass about some lame ass tournament. He was more interested in hunting down Jewel shards.

"I know, but According to this Naraku will be there." Kagome had also received an invitation, but was a bit freaked out that both her and Inuyasha had been invited, and that they both had received their invites at the same time, while Kagome was in modern times. "And so will Sesshomaru."

"And Kikyo." Added Miroku, who was leaning on his staff, reading over Kagome's shoulder. (And trying to cop a feel at the same time.) "Kikyo will be there as well."

"Uh yeah, Kikyo" Kagome thought about her former incarnation turned homicidal lost soul as she instinctively slapped away Miroku's idle hand.

"We shouldn't waste such a great opportunity." Sango, the female demon hunter, had entered the conversation. "Naraku will be there, out in the open, we have a chance to destroy him once and for all."

Miroku nodded, "Agreed, and we might be able to get the rest of the sacred Jewel while were at it."

Inuyasha picked up his sword, he had been sold on the tournament when Kagome mentioned Naraku being there, getting the jewel (and the chance to be a full fledged demon at long last) was just frosting on the cake.

"Alright! I'm in, let's go kick some ass!"

"Sit boy!"

With Kagome's command, Inuyasha fell flat on his face. Miroku and Sango just stared at Kagome.

Kagome just smiled and shrugged. "Maintenance check."

_Hell_

Around a table made of human bones sat a cavalcade of demons, Jedah Dohma, the lord of the Mikai, casually dug his claws into his arm as he looked around. Next to him, Shuma Gorath slithered and writhed in his seat, his eye looking around the table. Across from him, the Giant Gaki known as Kusaragedo chewed on something that was better off remaining unknown. The enormous Asmodeus, too large for a chair, simply loomed over the table, while the Red Aremeer perched on one of his titanic arms. Shang Tsung amused himself with a puzzle box while he waited for the meeting to begin.

He didn't have long.

In the central chair, a black gigantic shadow began to form, transforming into a gigantic humanoid with red eyes and a tail.

"Blackheart." Jedah said, looking up from his self-mutilation, "What is this all about?"

"I'm glad you asked Dohma, I assume you were all invited to this Grand Prix thing?"

The room was silent, save for the occasional scream of torment from outside. Eventually, Shuma Gorath said what everyone else was thinking.

I suppose you want to form a union, and split the infinity gems if one of us wins, is that about it? Well forget it, its every demon for himself out there! 

The other fiends murmured in agreement, Blackheart's eyes narrowed, and he regained the room's attention by smashing his fist into the table.

"NO! YOU IDIOT!" Blackheart took a deep breath and regained his composure. "Look, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have designs on the Infinity gems, but let us be honest here, were are merely eight fighters out of three hundred in this tournament. Our chances of winning the big prize is a slim one at best."

Shang Tsung raised an eyebrow, "Then why call us here?"

"Quite simple my friends," Blackheart smiled as he leaned back in his throne, "Are you familiar with an Artifact called the Shikon Jewel?"

Blackheart smiled to himself as the assembly of Demons quickly came to attention. If he played his cards right they would all soon be very, very powerful.

__

Geese Towers, Southtown

Geese Howard sat in his office and looked over his Invitation. He smiled as he saw not only his own name, but that of his number one enemy's, the Bogard Brothers, as well as several users of the Orochi power.

But what really interested him was noticing the Name of his estranged son Rock.

Years ago, when Rock was born, Geese had dismissed the boy, he had a criminal empire to run, he had no time to deal with some mewling brat, so Geese severed all ties with the boy.

Unfortunately, for Geese anyway, when he stepped out Terry Bogard stepped in, he took in the boy and trained him to be a strong fighter, which combined the fighting styles of both himself and Terry.

Geese could have kicked himself for not noticing the boys potential power before, but he couldn't change the past. Geese knew that Rock would never really accept him as his son after being abandoned like so much garbage.

But that was fine, Geese wasn't looking for a son.

He wanted a replacement.

Geese pressed a button on his Intercom, "Send in Billy Kane."

"Hey Hey Hey."

Billy Kane, Geese's British bodyguard and best friend came in, carrying his trademark quarterstaff.

Geese smiled, "Hey Billy, how's your sister?"

"Doing fine Mr. Howard, she really appreciates that fur coat you got her for her birthday."

"Only the best for my people. Are you all packed up for the tournament?"

"Yep, sure am." Billy looked a bit down, although he, Mr. Big, and Wolfgang Krauser had not been invited to compete in the tournament, Geese had insisted that they accompany him and Ryuji Yamakazi, in case any general leg breaking was required.

"Alright, there's one more thing I require. I have something I need you to hand deliver for me."

"Yeah? What Is it Geese?"

Geese smiled again, "A birthday present."

_Illusions cafe, Southtown_

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROCK!"

Rock howard Blew out the candles on his birthday cake, he was having the best 21st birthday a guy could possibly have, mainly because he was surrounded by people he cared for.

Seated at the table with him was his immediate family, First was Terry Bogard, the man who had raised him as his own son, despite the fact that Rocks biological father was his most hated enemy. Seated close by was Terry's brother Andy, along with Mai Shiranui, Andy's busty fiancée. Also there was Joe Higashi and Blue Mary Ryan, both close friends of the Bogard family. Seated at the bar was the Sakazaki family: Ryo, his father Takuma (AKA the Infamous "Mr. Karate") and younger sister Yuri. Also there was Yuri's beau Robert Garcia, And the owner of the Illusions cafe King.

Other guests abounded as well, from Kyo Kusanagi to Heavy D! and the US sports team. Even Kim Kaphwan had taken a day off from his busy schedule of vigilantism to attend the joyous occasion.

The whole thing was absolutely perfect, there was nothing in the world that could possibly sour Rock's mood or kill the festive atmosphere in the Illusions café.

"Hey Hey Hey!"

Well, almost nothing.

The entire reception turned around upon hearing Billy Kane's trademark greeting, their eyes staring daggers at Geese Howard's chief enforcer. Terry cracked his knuckles as he stood. Mai Shiranui pulled out one of her trademark fans in anticipation, Heavy D! shot Kane a look that screamed "Just try something sucka, I dare you." Kyo did not get up, but he began forming a small flame in his fist. Kim's ever-present smile took on a sinister tone.

Billy, who had his hands full with Geese's present to his son, just gulped, comparing this situation to Daniel in the lions den just didn't do it justice.

"Uh, I come in peace?"

With this announcement, the partygoers began to mellow out again, although he was Geese's top man, Billy Kane had a reputation of being one of the more pleasant bad guys frequenting South town. Was it someone like Yamakazi or Mr. Big delivering the present, a fight would have undoubtedly broken out by now.

Rock however, did not mellow out. "What do you want Billy?"

Billy Kane stepped forward cautiously and placed the large box on the table where Rock and the Bogard's were sitting.

"Uh, this is from your old man. Told me to deliver it for him."

"How nice." Rock said dryly, "Well take it back, last I checked my father and I had parted acquaintances."

"Uh sorry kid, bosses orders, he wants you to open it."

Andy started to get up, no doubt to throw Billy out, but Rock stopped him.

"No, this isn't worth ruining the party over."

"Terry's right," Rock said, tearing off the wrapping paper on the box, "May as well see what he's up too."

Inside the box was a small TV set with a VCR attached, a card reading "Press play" was taped to the VCR.

Rock shrugged, and did as the note instructed.

Geese's smiling face appeared on the screen, much to the disgust of pretty much everyone attending.

"Hello son, happy birthday. Your probably wondering what this is all about? Well, I've heard rumors around town that you've become pretty tough since I threw you out on your ass all those years ago. Regardless, I want to see how tough you really are. I know for a fact you've been invited to the Infinity Grand Prix tournament, I have as well, and I want to face you there, I want to see just how tough you really are."

Geese's face darkened a bit.

"If you manage to beat me, Ill acknowledge you as my son, and if you lose, well you won't be alive long enough to care."

Geese smiled again, "Well, now that's out of the way, enjoy the rest of your party, and Ill see you at the tournament. Good bye and good luck."

Before the picture went blank, Geese added as an afterthought.

"Oh, and Billy, get me some of that birthday cake before you go."

The screen went blank, and the reception was once again looked at Billy.

"Uh, so is that coconut? Boss is allergic see and…"

In retrospect, Billy really shouldn't have pushed the cake issue.

_Southtown Motel, after the party_

Kyo Kusanagi fumbled for his keys. Despite Billy Kane's arrival and Geese Howard's challenge to his son, the party had been rather enjoyable, although in retrospect Kyo wished he hadn't drank so much, he was beginning to feel a bit tipsy.

As Kyo opened the door, he began to feel a strong and familiar force inside his room. The young Kusanagi shook the cobwebs out of his head and readied himself, he had a strong feeling of who was behind that door.

Opening the door, Kyo reached over and hit the lights. Sure enough, Iori Yagami was sitting in his bed, staring at him while smoking a cigarette.

"I've been waiting for you Kusanagi, where the hell have you been?"

Kyo smiled, "Party. Rock Howard turned 21 today, we beat the hell out of Billy Kane, it was a hoot, you should have been there."

Iori got up and walked over to his archrival, "Sorry Kusanagi, unlike you I don't waste time on baby stuff like parties, did you get the invite to that tournament."

Kyo pulled his slightly crumpled invite out of his pocket. "Right here."

Iori blew smoke into Kyo's face, the young flame wielder didn't even blink.

"Don't suppose you took the time to read it, did you see who is on the list?"

"I read it, Rugal's going, so is K', as well as the NESTS organization."

"And Goentiz."

Kyo's face turned grim, "Yeah, him too."

"I also noticed that some guy named Orochimaru is gonna be attending."

"Orochi_maru_?"

"Some big shot ninja from another node, Chizuru thinks he may be connected to Orochi some how."

"Well, if he is, then we'll deal with him at the tournament, now if you don't mind, I'm kinda tired, and I want to get some shut eye."

Iori dropped his cigarette and crushed it under foot. "I didn't come here just to tell you about Goentiz. I came to give you a warning."

"What about?"

"Although were on the same side, for the moment, we are **not **friends. As soon as this Orochi thing is cleared up, you and me are gonna go at it. Understand?"

Iori made a purple flame in his hand as her talked, Kyo sighed and cracked his knuckles, some things never changed.

"Whatever you say Iori, you want a showdown? You've got it. But at the tournament, not here."

Iori let the flame in his hand die down, and he smiled as he went to the fire escape.

"See you at the competition Kusanagi."

As Iori left Kyo sat down on his bed and looked over the Invitation, It seemed that every major fighter in the world was gonna be there, not just his world, but every other world as well. Kyo didn't know what to expect from this tournament, but he did know one thing.

This tournament was going to be one to remember.


	4. On the eve of battle

Infinity Grand Prix: The eve of battle.

_Grand prix central office_

"Twenty four hours till game time."

Crinos looked at his watch and smiled. He then looked up and around him.

The central office of the Infinity Grand Prix arena was impressive; full set of controls for the Arena and Hotel, monitors hooked up to close circuit cameras, remote monitoring system that could detect alien invaders and other extraterrestrial intrusion. And, best of all, a nice big comfy chair for Crinos to sit in.

On could say that it resembled the bridge of the star trek enterprise, but Crinos didn't appreciate that analogy.

Crinos pressed a button on his chair, activating an intercom.

"You can send them in now."

The door opened, and in stepped his staff, A young woman with long pink hair, two tall men in red with blonde hair, and a shorter man with black hair and a straw hat. Also there were five more young women and a young man, all lined up behind the pink haired woman, eager expressions on their faces, and two other women behind the men in red.

"Alright, I'm glad you could all come, The Infinity Grand Prix is starting in 24 hours. Today the fighters will be arriving to get ready to compete. You are my most honorable staff."

Crinos pointed at the pink haired woman, "Washuu, I'd personally like to thank you for your support in this endeavor of mine. You will be the main technical director and help me here in the central office."

Washuu was beaming so much Crinos considered shades.

"As for your surrogate family, they will be working in the hotel."

One of the women behind Washuu, a busty girl with gray hair, flew over and hugged the young man, much to his distress.

"That's fine with me, as long as I can work with Tenchi…"

"Oh no you don't Ryoko!" a second, purple haired woman stepped in, trying to pull Tenchi from the first ones clutches. "Lord Tenchi shall be working with me!"

Crinos watched for a few minutes as the alien super woman bickered like silly ninnies, all while Tenchi did his best to slip from their grip. Eventually Crinos became tired of the exchange, and decided to end it.

"SHUT UP!" Crinos brought his fist down on the arm of his chair, shaking the room. The two alien females fell silent as Crinos got up and walked over.

"Ryoko will carry luggage, Tenchi will work the front desk, Ayeka will clean the rooms, Sasami will be head cook and Kiyone and Mihoshi will be room service. And if you don't like it, you can go home without a dime, because in all honesty the only one of you that's even remotely useful is Washuu. So keep the chaos to a minimum, UNDERSTAND?"

The girls and Tenchi stood in attention and nodded nervously at their new employer.

"Good, now get to the hotel and get into uniform, and be certain not to act too weird in front of the guests."

The Tenchi group left promptly, all except Washuu, who held back laughter at the scene.

"Wow," Washuu commented as she went over and sat down at her control panel, "You sure got a way with the ladies."

"Thanks Washuu." Crinos furrowed his brow and turned to the young man.

"Luffy D. Monkey, you'll be the referee, your job is to make sure that anyone who is thrown out of the ring stays out of the ring, other than that just stay out of the way and avoid getting yourself torn to shreds."

Luffy smiled, "You can count on me! Can I wear an Afro?"

Crinos blinked, "Can you wear a… I don't care, as long as you're not naked I don't care what you wear."

"Okay boss! See you later!"

Luffy bounded out of the room, Crinos furrowed his brow as he came to the last group.

"Vash the stampede and Million Knives, you two are on security."

Vash looked over at his brother, who was wearing a smile that Vash knew all to well.

"Uh, could I maybe do security alone?"

"No Vash, I need you both."

"But I don't think…"

"It will be fine Vash, trust me."

Vash sighed, It would take all of his effort to keep Knives in line, never mind an arena filled with bloodthirsty fighters.

Knives however, was looking forward to his new job, he'd get to mess with Vash, and push some humans around while he was at it.

"So, how big a security force will we be managing?"

"Your it."

Knives smile vanished, "Beg pardon?"

"You and Vash are the only security I've arranged."

"You have GOT to be kidding!" Knives said, stamping his foot, "How do you expect us to manage a tournament of three HUNDRED fighters with just the two of us?"

"Look, when I talked to you last week you told me that you and Vash were, and I quote, 'Superior life forms that can do this job a hundred times better than any human could ever hope too.' Unquote."

Vash and the two woman starred daggers at Knives (get it? daggers, knives? Ah screw it then) who coughed nervously. "Well, uh, I may had exaggerated a little…"

"Alright then, tell you what: I have enough left over in the budget to hire two additional hands for you boys. You can both pick one guy to help you out in security." Crinos leaned forward, "And I do mean anyone, alive or dead."

Knives stifled a chuckle, "I bet Vash is gonna pick Rem, that momma's boy."

Vash glared at Knives then forced a smile. "Actually, I was wondering if you could get Nicholas D. Wolfwood?"

One of the women, a tall blonde with long hair, visibly brightened. Knives groaned.

"Oh, him. Fine then, but I get Legato Bluesummers then."

Crinos admired Vash's willpower; even as the color drained from the humanoid plant's face he still kept his smile.

Knives grinned, "So what do you say Vash? Will Legato work?"

Vash let out a sigh, looking after Knives was bad enough, but Legato too?

"Alright Knives, but you better keep him under control."

Crinos interjected. "Yes, you had better Knives, your primary job is to protect my paying customers, and to make sure the fighters get to the ring in one piece and don't kill each other back stage. Fail and you'll both be plant food. Got it?"

"Sir yes sir!" Knives did a mock salute, while Vash just rolled his eyes, it was gonna be a long day.

"Alright, you two report to the medical bay, and Ill get on brining those guys back to life for you. I've got other things that need to be done."

Vash and Knives exited, the two girls began to follow, but Crinos snapped his fingers, indicating them to stop.

"And who are you two?"

One of the girls, a short brunette, stepped forward.

"I am Meryl Strife, and this is my partner Millie Thompson, we are representative's of the Bernardelli insurance society, and its our job to follow Vash the stampede and curb the damage caused in incidents involving him."

Crinos raised a proverbial eyebrow.

Meryl blushed a bit, "And… he's kinda my boyfriend."

Millie at this point decided to contribute to the conversation, "They're getting it on every night. At least that's what Mr. Knives says."

Meryl turned an even brighter shade of red. "You didn't need to tell him that Millie!"

"But its true Meryl, isn't it?"

"That's not the point, it's none of his business."

Crinos whistled loudly, bringing the conversation to an end.

"I appreciate your concern ladies, but the arena here is made out of an indestructible metal called Darksteel. This same metal is in the foundations of every other building in the city, including the Hotel. So if anything does get broken, Vash won't be responsible. Now why don't you two relax and go join your friend Vash in the medical bay. Alright?"

Millie smiled and left, but Meryl stayed behind, staring at Crinos.

"I'd be careful if I were you, I may love him, but they don't call him the humanoid typhoon for nothing."

With that, Meryl left the office, Crinos returned to his seat and smiled.

"Washuu, how many fighters have arrived yet?"

Washuu checked her computer, "According to my readout about two hundred and eighty of the invited fighters have shown up since this morning, they are currently checking out their rooms, or helping themselves to the entertainment and events we have provided."

"Yes, about that entertainment…"

"We have various shops, restaurants, dance clubs and bars represented in the vacant buildings surrounding the arena. Thus far your net profits from renting this space out, along with the tickets and pay per view, equate to about 4 billion dollars."

"Chump change. What about my gambling area."

"Ah yes, the so called money pit." Washuu typed on her computer, an image of an underground sewer like complex came up.

"Gambling king from the Ranma ½ node will be operating it until his draw comes up. As per your arrangement he gets 10% of house winnings."

"Excellent, everyone knows that the real money in this tourney is in the gambling. I'm gonna make a mint."

"Assuming you bet on the right horse that is."

Crinos noted the dryness in Washuu's voice. "I always make safe bets. I've done research on the fighters and I have a fairly good idea how well each fighter will do."

Washuu sighed again, "If you say so."

Crinos sat up in his chair, "Why not tell me what's really on your mind?"

"I just cant believe your giving the infinity gauntlet away in some silly contest!!" Washuu said, turning around and facing Crinos. "It seems so trivial, so poorly thought out, I mean, what if someone like Bison or Maximov wins the tournament? What then?"

Crinos laughed, "Well, it will be a very bad year for collective reality wont it?"

"This is serious, what if they decide not to give it up in a year, are you prepared for the consequences of this?"

Crinos sighed, "Washuu I'm disappointed in you, I would have thought the universes greatest genius could look at the big picture. Of course I realize what's at stake, that's why I have insurance." Crinos leaned forward, "And I ain't talking about Bernardelli insurance."

"Then what are you talking about?"

"The guy who gave me the gems, the living tribunal."

Washuu went silent at the mention of the most powerful entity in consensual reality.

"You see, the whole poker game thing is a cover, he gave me the gems in order to give to the winner of this competition."

"Why?"

"Don't know, just told me to throw this tournament, get rich, give the gems to the winner. When the living tribunal shows up while you're in your skivvies eating pizza on a Friday night, you don't ask questions."

Washuu looked down, "Still seems a bit suspicious to me."

"Look, I'm sure the Tribunal has a good reason for what he does. Just got to trust the guy. Now, you said that two hundred and eighty fighters were here so far?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, the remaining fighters wont be arriving till late tonight, some of them want to avoid large crowds. Some, like Asmodeus and Jedah, have their own means of transport. Everyone should be here by tomorrow morning."

"Good, I'm gonna be in the cafeteria getting me some puddin!" Crinos got out of his chair and skipped out the front door. Washuu sighed and went back to her typing. She did not entirely believe Crinos, nor did she trust the Living Tribunal.

Washuu smiled to herself, then turned away from the monitor, summoning her own computer.

"Well, let Crinos be relaxed if he wants," Washuu said to herself as she typed furiously, "Me? I'm gonna have a back up plan in case this thing goes south. They don't call me the universes greatest mad scientist for nothing."

Two puppets that resembled Washuu suddenly appeared on her shoulders.

"Washuu you are the greatest!"

"You are the greatest Washuu."

Washuu smiled as she continued.

"Yes, Yes I am."

_Grand Prix city, restaurant sector_

****

SMASH__

"How do you like that you purple haired skank?"

"Shampoo not skank stupid jelly girl, and you pay for window."

Kuradoberi Jam picked up another of the Neko Hanten's tables and sent it flying through their last unbroken window. The standoff had been going off since the Cat Café had opened about an hour ago. Cologne watched as Shampoo and the strange and irritating woman exchanged punches and kicks, overturning food, destroying tables, and scaring away all but the hardiest of fighters. (Chang Kohen and Uzumaki Naruto were currently locked in the middle of a Ramen eating contest and neither was leaving any time soon.) Mousse would have undoubtedly helped Shampoo, but he was no where to be found.

"First off, my name is Jam. J-A-M, not "Jelly". Secondly," Jam ducked Shampoo's Bonbori swipe and delivered a double kick to the young amazon's solar plexus, "I opened MY Chinese restaurant across the street, and YOUR little ramen hut is taking all my business."

Shampoo leg swiped Jam and jumped to her feet. "Probably scared of ugly dragon on roof of Jelly girls place."

"THAT'S THERE FOR AMBIENCE!" Jam roared as she leapt at Shampoo. Shampoo leapt as well, planning to clobber Jam with her Bonbori's.

Then Ranma Saotome and Ky Kiske happened to walk in.

"Ky my love! **Oof**"

"Airen! **AH**"

Distracted by the arrival of their respective boy friends (At least in their minds.) The two women slammed straight into each other.

Ky and Ranma, unawares of the chaos occurring within, made their way over to an undestroyed booth and sat down. Ranma had met Ky while evading his other Fiancee's and rivals and had hit it off with the young police officer."

"So this is where me and Akane usually hang out, they move the restaurant here for the tournament. They have good Ramen, but watch out for this guy with thick glasses."

"OH AIREN!"

"Oh, and the purple haired girl is pretty crazy too."

Shampoo and Jam ran over with such speed the floor caught on fire. (Meanwhile, Naruto had finally admitted defeat to Chang, and was stumbling out to meet with his teammates.)

"Hello Airen, what can Shampoo get for you…" Shampoo suddenly noticed Akane's absence and smiled. "Where is violent girl?"

Ranma gulped nervously, "Well, she and Nabiki went to check out the rooms at the hotel, they should be here any minute, really."

"Oh that's okay," Shampoo purred, grabbing Ranma's arm, "What Violent girl don't know wont hurt her."

Jam seemed to perfectly mirror Shampoo's exact movements as she glomped Ky.

"Ky honey, this horrible woman is trying to run me out of business. You should arrest her right away."

Ky and Ranma also mirrored each other's movements as they tried to pry themselves away from their respective girl's grip.

"But Jam, I'm off duty, I can't arrest anyone here."

"Uh, Shampoo, Akane really is coming, you shouldn't be doing that."

Then it started; Jam noticed Ranma.

"Ha! You call that a boyfriend? What a wuss, Ky is much tougher."

"You crazy! Airen much tougher than stupid man in white."

Jam and Shampoo released their respective boyfriends and returned to their fight. Ky and Ranma sighed a collective sigh of relief.

"Glad that's over, are all Chinese woman like that Mr. Saotome?"

"Just the ones we know I guess. Shampoo's right you know."

"About what?"

"I could totally kick your ass."

"You wish, I am a master of lightning magic."

"Well I'm a practitioner of anything goes martial arts."

"So? I have a sword."

"Swords are for wimps Frenchie."

Ky stood up, "Were I'm from those are fighting words!"

Ranma stood up as well, "Then lets take it outside!"

Ranma and Ky proceeded out the door to settle their differences, while Jam and Shampoo proceeded to continue tearing up the Neko Hanten.

And Chang ordered another bowl of Ramen.

_Shopping District_

"Where do you think we should go next Sie Kun?"

Athena skipped merrily down the street of the shopping district, every possible shop from Wal-Mart to JC Penny had paid to have a shop set up in one of the vacant buildings of the Grand Prix City, and Athena was determined to hit them all before the day was out.

Despite the fact he was weighed down like a pack mule, Sie was pretty happy. This had been the happiest he had seen Athena in weeks. And he wished nothing would happen that would spoil Athena's good spirits.

You know what they say about wishing and one hand and doing something else in the other…

As the walked along, a large shadow swooped by. Sie assumed it was just a bird, but Athena went stock still, as if she had just seen a ghost.

"Athena? You okay?"

Athena shook her head, as if shaking herself out of a trance, then she turned around and smiled at Sie.

"I'm fine Sie Kun, just got a bit spooked that's all."

Sie didn't respond, he just stared wide-eyed at Athena.

"Sie? What's wrong?"

Sie did not respond as she dropped the clothes and trinkets that he was carrying and dropped into a fighting stance.

"Sie, you're scaring me."

As Sie slowly inched towards Athena, she came to the slow realization that Sie was not staring at her, but something behind her.

Trembling, Athena turned around…

...And saw the devil.

Red Aremeer loomed over Athena, a smile on its beaked face. Athena just stared in wide-eyed terror as the huge demon leaned forward and sniffed her.

After a few discerning smells, the demon smiled.

"So, it is you, I've finally found you, after all these years, we finally meet again."

This statement caught Athena off guard, but it surprised the advancing Sie even more. Did Athena actually know this thing?

Before Sie could get close enough to attack the monster, a large column of flame erupted between Athena and the Red Aremeer. Sie assumed the worst, that the monster was attacking, and raced forward with new determination to defend the woman he loved.

He stopped when he realized that the demon had not produced the fire.

When the flames dies down, Kyo Kusanagi was positioned between Athena and Red Aremeer, his hand blazing with eldritch flame. Behind the demon the rest of the 2001 Japanese stood behind the demon. Benimaru smiled wickedly and flexed his palms, static electricity running between his fingers, Goro Daimon towered over the demon, his arms folded as he looked down disapprovingly. Shingo stood a bit further back, scanning through his move list booklet for something, anything that might be able to down a creature from hell.

Red Aremeer looked down at Kyo with annoyance, and completely ignored the other three. Athena also ignored the Japanese team, still staring with horror at the Red Aremeer even as Sie pulled her away from the group to safety.

"Listen ugly," Kyo said at last, "I don't appreciate demons harassing pals of mine, if you know what's good for you, you wont show your face around Athena again, understand?"

Aremeer did not respond, he didn't even look at Kyo. He simply continued to stare at Athena. Annoyed, Goro grabbed the demon by the shoulder.

"You deaf as well as ugly? My friend told you to scram."

Aremeer looked at the hand like an ugly insect, and reached out with a claw, grabbing the hand and squeezing it hard. Goro cringed in pain as the sounds of breaking bones filled the air. Then, with the effort an angry child would use to throw a doll across a room, Red lifted and tossed Goro across the street into, and then through, the wall of a non descript store, burying the giant martial artist in a pile of concrete.

Watching their burly friend get tossed around effortlessly somewhat demoralized Benimaru and Shingo, who took a few steps back from the monster. Kyo however didn't budge.

"I've seen stronger ugly, but if it's a fight you're spoiling for…."

Kyo pulled back and punched the demon several times in the stomach with flaming punches, then finished with a kick to the head.

The Red Aremeer didn't even flinch from the attack, and responded by lifting Kyo up by his collar and pulling back a clawed fist, no doubt planning to do to him what he did to Goro. Benimaru and Shingo, forgetting their fear, ran to help Kyo. Kyo closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

"Stop! Please stop!"

Everyone dropped what they were doing as Athena came running back, Sie chasing after her after she had broken free from his grip. Aremeer, forgetting the Japanese team, dropped Kyo and walked towards Athena. Shingo and Benimaru helped the gasping Kyo up.

"Don't worry about me." The young Kusanagi wheezed, "go help Goro."

The two remaining members of the Japanese team complied and ran to dig Goro out, Kyo made his way over to Red Aremeer, ready to try another, stronger attack.

"Kyo please stop."

Kyo was shocked as Athena stepped between the pair, apparently shielding the demon from Kyo.

'Or the other way around' Kyo thought bitterly.

"Kyo, thank you for trying to protect me, but I don't want you to be hurt for my sake." Tears were streaming down the young psycho soldiers face, "If something bad happened to you, or anyone else because of me, I could never forgive myself."

This blatant show of sentimentalism mad the Red Aremeer laugh evilly. Which made Sie's blood boil in anger.

"How amusing, even after all these centuries you're still a sentimental fool."

Athena turned around and stared at Red Aremeer.

"What are you talking about? This is the first time I've seen you."

This statement apparently surprised the demon, which stared at Athena a few more seconds, then sniffed her again.

"I mean, you do look familiar, and I have seen you in my dreams, but this is the first time we've met in person, I think."

Hearing this caused the Aremeer's look of shock to melt into a smug smile, as if he knew a secret no one else did.

"You don't remember. I should have known."

Athena blinked, "Remember what?"

"You'll find soon enough." Red Aremeer said, flapping his huge wings, "We will meet again."

As Red Aremeer took off into the skies, The overwhelming nature of the situation finally caught up to Athena, who broke down crying. Sie rushed to comfort her, but as always, Kyo was there first, hugging the crying Athena tightly.

Knowing he was beat, Sie glumly went and picked up Athena's discarded bags, as Benimaru and Shingo continued to excavate their fallen comrade. Suddenly, the concrete that Goro was under exploded outward as the giant warrior sat up, none the worse for wear considering what had been done to him.

Goro surveyed the scene, and his own teammates (who he ad unintentionally knocked down when he roused himself.) And asked innocently.

"So, what I miss?"

_Restaurant District_

Ranma stumbled down an alley, bruised and battered, he slid down one of the walls and took a minute to catch his breath.

After Ranma and Ky went outside the situation quickly degenerated. It turns out the reason Mousse was MIA was because he was over at Jam's restaurant, planning to destroy the large dragon that was perched on the roof of the establishment.

What Mousse didn't realize was that said dragon was very much alive. And was being used as a food supply by Jam. (Since dragons are highly regenerative it is possible to use them as indefinite food source, keeping them barely alive so you can take the meat off them and waiting long enough for them to grow more.)

However the distraction caused by the Neko Hanten's opening had caused Jam to forget her daily morning ritual of gutting the dragon for meat, which allowed it to regenerate enough to be able to move on its own. By the time Mousse had gotten there, the dragon was fully healed and not too happy about having spent the last five years acting as entrée fodder.

In the ensuing mayhem Both Jam's restaurant and the Neko Hanten were reduced to rubble. Mousse got several third degree burns, and several other establishments were flattened or burned down before the dragon was finally subdued by Vash and Wolfwood (Who was freshly resurrected thanks to the Grand Prix's crack medical team.) who confiscated the monster until after the tournament.

By the time all was said and done, the only stands left standing were Ukyo's okonomiyaki stand (She had arrived late.) and a donut shop. (Where Vash and Wolfwood had been eating in celebration of the preacher's temporary lease on life.)

This left Shampoo and Jam (And by association, Ranma and Ky) to deal with a mob of infuriated restaurant owners, hungry tournament patrons, and perhaps worst of all Chang Kohen. (Who was, against all odds, still hungry.)

Then Akane showed up, saw Shampoo clinging to Ranma, and the predictable happened.

Ranma took deep breaths, he had barely managed to escape the ensuing mobbing. (Ky was not so lucky, as he tried to calm the crowd down and got an iron ball to the head courtesy of Chang.) Ranma had a feeling that the other shops would be fixed quickly, from what he had seen whoever was running this place had money to burn. But that bridge would be crossed later, for now Ranma would take a breather, wait for Akane to calm down, then rejoin the others.

"Having lady trouble I see…"

Ranma looked around for the source of the voice, but saw no one.

"It must be frustrating, to be surrounded by beautiful girls and have no control over them. If I was in your position, I would have had those four women wrapped around my finger long ago."

Ranma stood up and looked upward, he could not determine the source of the voice, and the rich Romanian accent did not ring a bell.

"Handling multiple brides is an easy affair, all you have to do is break them. Once you've made them realize they are nothing more than valuable property, controlling them becomes child's play."

Ranma clenched his fists, he did not like what he was hearing, "Show yourself whoever you are."

The voice's owner ignored Ranma as it continued, "A little humiliation, some psychological torture, and a sturdy hand. If you have that women can be tamed very easily, I should know, I've done it many times before."

Ranma slammed his fist into the nearby wall, noticeable cracks were the result.

"You know, you talk tough for someone who won't show his face. Why don't you come out here tough guy and show me how you handle women yourself."

Suddenly the voice spoke again, but now Ranma could determine its location.

"Very well then…"

Behind him.

Ranma spun around and saw Demitri Maximov standing before him. At first Ranma was shocked by the size and intimidating air the vampire lord gave off.

Then he saw his hair, and laughter ensued.

Demitri glowered. "What?"

Ranma didn't stop laughing, "Oh man, what happened to you hair? Get in a fight with a toilet and lose? HA!"

Demitri glared at Saotome, who was close to having a seizure. "Laugh all you want Saotome, but I suggest you enjoy the company of your lady friends, for soon the will belong to me."

"Oh please," Ranma said, wiping a tear from his eyes, "You can't even do your hair right? And your gonna kidnap Akane, Shampoo, and Ukyo?"

"You forgot Kodachi." Maximov said dryly.

"Well heck HER you can have." Ranma replied, falling into another laughing fit. Maximov rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, write me off if you dare Ranma Saotome, but mark my words I will have your women. By hook or by crook."

With that, Maximov vanish, leaving the still hysterical Ranma in the alley. A few minutes later, Akane happened by and found him. Writing off the laughing fit to another case of "Ranma being stupid" Akane pulled out a bottle of water she had gotten from a vendor and splashed Ranma, changing her into her girl form.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Its lunch, they managed to repair the Neko Hanten, and that Jam lady has agreed to work there as compensation for the whole dragon incident."

"Oh, alright." The now female Ranma got up and brushed herself off. Then joined Akane as they left the alley and walked towards the Neko Hanten (and if your curious as to why it was rebuilt so fast, remember Crinos has Washuu on hand, so the future is now. Bitch.)

"Incidentally, why were you laughing." Akane asked.

"Oh, some evil guy wants to kidnap you and my other would be fiancee's." Ranma replied.

"What, again?"

"Yeah, you should have seen him, looks like Dracula with a swirlee."

Akane blinked, "Dracula with a Swirlee?"

"Yep, total freak job."

Akane just shrugged as they came to the doors of the Neko Hanten.

"Ah well, never a dull moment."

__

Grand Prix hotel, room 444

One could only marvel at the limits of Washuu's technology. With her access to space-time manipulation technology and machines capable of creating parallel worlds, Washuu was capable of creating hotel rooms to suit the needs of each individual fighter. Behind the otherwise innocuous doors of the hotel could lie stately and decadent bedrooms, stark military bunkers, or Frozen ice caverns.

In the case of one Leopold Goentiz, the room of choice was a darkened temple, tastefully decorated with exquisite oriental trappings.

In front of a large golden idol, the high priest of the Orochi sat, legs folded, as he meditated and communed with his dark master.

At least, that's what he was trying to do.

In an adjacent chamber of the room (which in itself was several rooms large, and included its own personal hot spring among other things.), Yashiro, Shermie, and Chris, Known as the four heavenly kings by Goentiz and the new faces band to everyone else, were practicing their instruments. They had been asked personally by Crinos to provided the entertainment for the half time show, and were very much excited to be playing their first gig since the Orochi resurrected them to help Goentiz.

Goentiz, understandably, was not so thrilled.

"What in the name of the dark lord are you idiots DOING!" Goentiz stormed in, exasperated. Chris, the guitarist for the new faces, shrugged.

"It's called a sound check chief, it's what we do."

"Yeah," Yashiro, the drummer, added in, "Relax."

Goentiz furrowed his brow, "First off, you will address me as "high priest" or "lord Goentiz", not "chief", secondly will you three keep it down? I am TRYING to commune with the dark lord."

Shermie, the dancer, skipped merrily over and hugged Goentiz. "Oh look at you sweetie, your all tense, you should really unwind."

Goentiz sighed a bit, much as he hated to admit it, Shermie did have a way to calm him. "Thank you Shermie, but I don't have time to relax, need I remind you we are here to resurrect the Orochi and cleanse the earth of all life."

Chris rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, and I'm the vessel of Orochi I know."

"Actually no you're not Chris, not anymore."

"I'm not? Cool, then who is?"

Goentiz sighed and pushed Shermie off. "I don't know, I must find a suitable host. I must also procure more allies to deal with Kusanagi and Yagami."

"How about Mature and Vice?" Yashiro asked.

"They are en route as we speak. I also have plans to kidnap Yamakazi and Leona and 'coerce' them into assistance." Goentiz walked over and sat in a gold throne, rubbing his temples. "But we need something more."

Shermie, not giving up, came over and sat on Goentiz's lap. "How about Orochimaru?"

Goentiz looked up at Shermie. "Who?"

"You didn't read your invite did you?"

Goentiz shrugged, "I gazed at it, but I don't see…"

Shermie dove into Goentiz's pocked and fished out the invite. "Look, its right here, Orochimaru, leader of the "Hidden sound village."

Goentiz looked over the invitation again. "You have any info on this guy."

Chris answered, "Yeah, I did some research on him when we got here, he's this big evil ninja dude, specializes in magic seals that can brainwash people or seal their powers or make them super strong."

Goentiz smiled, "Interesting, very interesting. You have served me well my heavenly kings, Orochi will be most pleased."

Yashiro and the other new faces brightened, "So can we practice for the half time show?"

Goentiz shook his head, "No, I want you to do a job."

"What kind of job?" The three asked at once.

Goentiz threw the invite in the air and summoned his Orochi power, shredding the paper into confetti with just wind,

"Bring me Orochimaru, there are things I need to discuss with him."

_Prix city hot springs_

On the outskirts of the city where the Grand Prix was set to take place was nothing by a vast wasteland that went on for about three or four miles, then warped back on itself, leading back to the city and arena. There was little in this wasteland to hold interest to anyone.

With the obvious exception of the hot springs that is.

There was about fifty in all, all roughly the same size, with makeshift huts built over them to ensure privacy. The temperature ranged from barely lukewarm to heat sufficient to melt lead (For the more thick-skinned fighters like Leopaldon and the Juggernaut.)

Uzumaki Naruto wandered around the wasteland, checking the various hot springs for his master Jiraya. He still felt full after his eating contest with Chang Kohen, and had volunteered to go find the old pervert.

Once he found out about the Hot Springs, he knew exactly where to look.

Sure enough, Naruto eventually spotted Jiraya, peering into a Hot Spring, while simultaneously writing in a notebook.

"Getting notes for your next issue of Come Come Paradise Pervert Sennin?"

Startled, Jiraya spun around and saw Naruto standing there, arms crossed.

"Oh hey Naruto, could you keep it down, those girls in there look pretty tough and I don't want to disturb them."

"I'm afraid you already have buddy."

Jiraya gulped and slowly turned around. Sure enough, King, Mai, Yuri and Blue Mary were all standing over the ninja master, and none of them looked to pleased to see him.

"Uh, heheh, hi ladies…"

About five minutes worth of savage beating later, the girls were on their way back to town, and Jiraya was battered and bruised.

Of course Jiraya could have beaten them easily, but he couldn't bring himself to hurt such beauty.

As Naruto helped his master up, they both became aware of a sinister presence nearby, A very familiar sinister presence.

Jiraya frowned, "Show yourself Orochimaru."

From the shadows Orochimaru and his lackey Kabuto emerged. They were both wearing, in lieu of their hidden sound uniforms, purple bathrobes with the hidden sound insignia on them.

"Looks like you haven't changed a bit Jiraya, still ogling the ladies I see."

"Yes, well, no… shut up!" Jiraya climbed to his feet. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the hot springs you idiot." Orochimaru answered, "You know my every waking moment doesn't revolve around destroying the leaf."

"Could have fooled me." Naruto grumbled.

"Anyway, if you two idiots are done being a pain in the ass, me and Kabuto would like to enjoy our day at the Hot Springs."

Before Naruto or Jiraya could respond, the hut adjacent to the group exploded in a ball of purple fire. Naruto and Jiraya, not expected the blast, were knocked back. Orochimaru and Kabuto didn't fare much better.

When the flames died down, Iori Yagami was standing at the edge of the hot spring, cracking his knuckles and smiling.

"Which one of you clowns is Orochimaru."

Jiraya and Naruto pointed at Orochimaru as they got up, Orochimaru dusted off his bathrobe and sighed.

"That's me, what is it?"

"Yeah, you look like an Orochimaru, my name is Iori Yagami, and I'm here to roast you like a fat man in Speedo's in July."

Kabuto blinked, "like a what?"

"SILENCE!" Iori rushed towards Orochimaru, his hands burning with purple flame. Orochimaru just sighed, reached out, and slammed his palm into Iori's gut, inscribing a chakra seal on the young mans stomach.

Iori stopped dead in his tracks, his body wracked with pain. As the world went dark the last things he saw were the flames on his hands vanishing.

As Iori lay unconscious on the ground, a female figure approached Orochimaru from behind.

"Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru and Kabuto turned to see Shermie standing there. "Honestly can't I take a simple bathe without someone showing up and trying to kill me?"

"Actually, I'm here on business. My boss wants to talk to you."

Orochimaru looked at Shermie, then at Jiraya and Naruto, who were up and in a fighting stance. Then he looked at the ruined hot spring."

"Ah, why the hell not, my days shot anyway. Later Jiraya."

As Orochimaru and Kabuto walked away, Naruto started to follow them. But Jiraya stopped him.

"No, let him go, for now." Jiraya looked down at the unconscious Iori, "Right now, he needs our help."

_Grand prix central office_

"So Washuu, how are things going thus far?"

Crinos spun his chair around as Washuu typed on the central computer, several other nameless technicians (Lured away from, or all places, NERV) did likewise.

"Well, according to my calculation almost all the fighters have arrived. The only ones who have not checked into the hotel are those with their own private abodes. And aside from a few 'minor' incidents, things are running smoothly."

"What kind of incidents?" Crinos asked.

"Well, there was a turf dispute in the restaurant district between two Chinese restaurants owned by competitors, fortunately Vash and Wolfwood diffused the situation before any lives were taken. A fighter by the name of Athena Asamiya was being threatened by a demon named Red Aremeer earlier today in the shopping district. Knives and Legato are currently looking into it. In the Hot Springs area there was a mysterious explosion. Cause is unknown but certain female fighters reported a "Dirt old man" in the vicinity, however Happosai was reported elsewhere at the time and his alibi seems valid."

"Anything else?"

Washuu looked over her computer monitor, and suddenly noticed a blinking light, after investigating further she frowned.

"Well, apparently there is an unknown space ship violating our airspace."

Crinos stopped spinning, but did not lose his chipper disposition. "That so? Who is it?"

Washuu shrugged. "Not sure, but there hailing us."

"Put it onscreen, lets see what they want."

Washuu typed the commands into her keyboard and suddenly the image of two brick like creatures, one green and one pink, appeared on the big monitor.

"Greetings, I am Ignitnot and this is Err."

"I am Err."

"We are the Mooninites."

"Fuck yeah were the Mooninites."

"We come from the center of the Moon to steal the Infinity Gauntlet, and use it to destroy public property, and make people wet themselves in public."

"So they go crying home to Mama."

"You cannot defeat our superior might."

"So quit stallin and hand over the damn gems."

Washuu and Crinos stared, and blinked.

"Okay, who the hell put LSD in my puddin?"

Ignitnot spoke again, "Did you not hear us? We are the Mooninites."

"Most advanced in the universe bitch."

"You have no choice but to appease us."

"So give us the gems or we'll come down there and paddle your bitch asses."

"Don't worry Crinos." Washuu said, typing on her computer, "I have our orbital death lasers locked on their location, in a few more seconds…"

"Washuu wait, I have a better idea." Crinos blinked, "We have orbital death lasers?"

"You remember, in case Vash got cold feet with that angel arm of his."

"Oh, right. Well, forget it. I have a better idea."

Crinos looked up to the Mooninites. "How would you guys like a job as interviewers?"

"Do not try and distract us."

"Wait, you want to give us a job?"

"We will get the Infinity gems, our cause is just."

"Uh, how much does this job pay?"

Crinos smiled, "Well, for one thing we wont blow you into sub atomic space dust with our death lasers."

The Mooninites looked at each other, then Ignitnot spoke.

"Very well Crinos, Before we destroy you and claim the Infinity gems we will allow you to let us interview your weak and effeminate fighters."

"There all a bunch of freakin fruits."

"Prepare for our coming."

"Mooninites out."

The screen went blank and Washuu looked at Crinos.

"You're a sick man you know that?"

"You know you don't have to work here, I could get Invader Zim here at one third the pay."

"I've quit better jobs than this." The phone rang, and Washuu picked it up.

"Central office what do you want?"

Washuu nodded a few times and hung up the phone, Crinos tilted his head in curiosity.

"That was the Laundromat, They say you can pick up your clothes week from Tuesday."

Crinos Nodded, "Butter."

_Later than night, In a random pub in the restaurant section_

It was a smoky and seedy bar, The kind of place people like King wouldn't be found dead in. Instead a portly old man known only as "scruffy" acted as bartender. Chin Gensai was sitting at the bar, his face down on it as he slept soundly. Genjuro sat at a small table, quietly playing a game of Hanafuda with Kenshin Himura (Who had come in with Sanoske and would not have been there otherwise.) At a nearby Pool table, Venom was playing a game of billiards with Billy Kane, who was still nursing bruises and scrapes from the Rock Howard Birthday incident.

Suddenly, the door burst open with a fierce wind. Demitri Maximov, his features shrouded by a sinister dark mist, entered. Scruffy remained stoic, spiting a wad of tobacco into a nearby spittoon as he cleaned a glass. Chin Gensai briefly looked up to see if the stranger was Sie or Athena come to take him back to his room, seeing that it wasn't he slumped back down to sleep. Kenshin glared at the vampire and cautiously put his hand on the hilt of his sword, expecting the worst (Sano, who was also unconscious after entering a drinking contest with Gensai, did nothing). Venom and Kane briefly looked up from their game, but gave Maximov little thought as they returned to their game.

"Which one of you is Genjuro?"

Genjuro, who had been ignoring Demitri until now, looked up from his cards.

"I am Genjuro the greatest and deadliest Samurai that has ever lived but I do not know you nor do I care how you know me for I am currently whooping the pants off this so called great warrior known as Kenshin Himura who is really just a little wimp who wont even kill and uses a reversed blade sword that is obviously of inferior make I mean come on it looks like it was forged by a two year old its so obvious he wont even last a single round with his loser weapons and good guy philosophy he's almost as bad as that weakling Haohmaru which I hate with the intensity of a thousand suns…"

"SHUT UP!" Maximov bellowed in anger, smashing his fist against a nearby support beam, causing the darksteel to groan. "I need you for a kidnapping job, and Ill pay you handsomely if you perform the job quickly, efficiently, and most of all QUIETLY."

Genjuro smiled and got up, he liked being rewarded almost as much as he liked hearing himself talk.

"Very well stranger whom I have never met before and am still perplexed at the fact that you know me despite the fact we have never met I will assist you in this job so long as you pay me sufficiently for my services I will kidnap anyone you want a prince a emperor you name it but I ask if I will get a chance to fight Haohmaru on this job because as you may or may not have heard I despise him a great deal because he sucks and he always blathers on and on about how legendary he is even though he is just a punk who I will squash like a bug when I get my hands on him…"

"WHAT did I say about being quiet?"

Genjuro stopped talking and nodded solemnly. Demitri sighed and turned around.

"We will talk at my place, and hammer out the details of our 'alliance', such things are not for the prying eyes."

Without saying anything further, Demitri and Genjuro exited. Kenshin stared at the pair as they left. He did not like what he had heard, and would have tried to stop them were it not for Sano being close by and incapacitated.

"Ill have to keep an eye on them, that I will." Kenshin said as he hoisted he unconscious friend up on his shoulder and headed out.

_Grand Prix hotel, Room 444_

Orochimaru stifled a burp, and smiled at Goentiz.

It had been a sumptuous feast, the finest in Chinese and Japanese cuisine expertly made by the hotel staff. (Orochimaru made a note to complement this "Sasami" on her cooking if they were ever to meet.)

Orochimaru sat at one end of the table while Goentiz sat at another, on the long sides of the table sat the new faces band and Kabuto, who was nestled quite uncomfortably between Mature and Vice.

"So basically you think that because I share a common name with this Orochi you worship, we are somehow related?" Orochimaru asked.

"That's our working theory." Goentiz replied, sipping some saki as he did.

"Highly unlikely," Kabuto said, "It's probably some odd coincidence."

Goentiz smiled, "My boy, In my life I have seen sufficient to convince me that 'coincidence' is just a word invented by skeptics to help them sleep at night."

"And this Iori guy that attacked me earlier…"

"A blood enemy of sorts, he believes the same as us. Which is why I propose an alliance of mutual protection." Goentiz sipped more Saki as Orochimaru thought the offer over.

"What do you want from me?"

"I want a curse seal for myself and each member of the Hakkeshu, In exchange I will have my people assist you in acquiring a Mr. Sasuke Uchina, someone I understand you have great interest in."

Orochimaru smiled, he had only met Goentiz a little while ago, but he was already starting to like him.

"How many people are in this Hakkeshu?"

"Eight in all; Myself, the other three heavenly kings" Goentiz indicated the new faces, "Mature and Vice, and two others which we will have to acquire by force."

Orochimaru stifled another burp, then stood up and smiled.

"Leopold Goentiz, you have yourself a deal. Now lets get started with those curse seals."

As the servants of the Orochi began to organize themselves, Kabuto sat and stared down at his plate, he couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about these people he didn't trust.

__

The dimensional gateway

It was night, most of the fighters were either sleeping in the hotel or trying to get in some last minute pub crawling before the big day tomorrow. The streets leading to the dimensional gateway which acted as a door to the Grand Prix node was all but quiet.

That is, until a large group began moving down the street.

Inuyasha led the group, his hand on the hilt of his blade Tetsaiga as he walked along, his vassal Myoga the flea perched on his ear, on the look out for danger. Kagome was near Inuyasha, a sacred arrow drawn and ready on her bow in case it was needed. Miroku was next, his holy staff tucked under his shoulder, his left hand holding the beads around his right tightly. Behind Miroku was Sango, dressed in traditional demon hunter armor, her giant boomerang on her back. Shippo was last, perched on the back of the giant demonic cat Kilala.

"You sure Naraku is arriving tonight Myoga?" Inuyasha asked, resisting the urge to scratch the little squirt off his ear.

"That is what I heard master Inuyasha, I was in the hotel, getting a snack when I heard one of the staff members speaking about it, she said Naraku was arriving at ten o clock tonight."

"That's just a few minutes from now." Sango pointed out.

"Then we better hurry," Inuyasha declared as he sped up, the others followed suit and the group quickly rounded a corner to get to the portal…

Only to find a group of an entirely different sort was already there.

Blackheart stood facing the portal arms folded. Shuma Gorath mimicked his posture, its one eye darting around at the other demons. Kusaregedo leaned against a nearby wall, drooling acidic slime all over the place. Jedah chuckled to himself as he cut a hole in his hand with a free finger, while his retainer Q bee looked on in disgust. Shang Tsung sat with legs folded, while his minion's Kano and Baraka stood at attention. Asmodeus was not present, but his minion Lord Deimos was. Red Aremeer perched on top of the portal and occasionally bent forward to peer through it.

Inuyasha's group, who was battle ready when they arrived, grew even more tense. They knew why these demons had gathered here and knew they would have to fight them all to get the Shikon jewel.

Inuyasha, never one to cower, step forward.

"Hey, what the hell are you losers doing here?"

Blackheart shot a glance at Inuyasha, and the half demon suddenly felt three inches tall.

"Get lost mongrel, the Shikon jewel has already been claimed by us of the round table of darkness."

Shuma Gorath looked over at Blackheart. I still say that name is stupid. 

Blackheart sighed, "Look, we voted on the name, you lost. Get over it already. Sides which, 'super evil guys forever' is the dumbest name… oh hold on."

Blackheart stepped to the side, avoiding the downward slash of Inuyasha's Tetsaiga. The half demon glared at Blackheart.

"Watch your mouth ugly, I may be half demon, but once I get the Shikon jewel Ill be a full fledged demon."

"If you say so." Blackheart said in a bored tone as he dodged and parried Inuyasha's incoming sword blows. Kagome and the other moved to assist him, but were blocked by the other demons and their minions.

After a few minutes of parrying Blackheart sighed again and grabbed the Tetsaiga mid swing.

"You fight very sloppily Mongrel, it's almost embarrassing." Blackheart commented casually as he threw Inuyasha away with all the effort of swatting a fly. As Inuyasha went flying, the Tetsaiga went back to its inactive state. Prompting Blackheart to chuck the sword away.

Inuyasha got up to his feet, looking around for the sword, he knew without its power he would begin to change…

Sure enough, Inuyasha began to feel the throbbing in his head, his friends watched on in horror as they tried (unsuccessfully) to fight through the blockade of demons. Blackheart watched Inuyasha with curiosity as he changed into a full-blooded demon.

"Fascinating." Blackheart remarked as the red eyed Inuyasha bounded for the demon king, growling unintelligibly with his claws bared. Blackheart arced back, and spit out a cloud of green skinned demons, which overwhelmed Inuyasha and forced him to the ground. Blackheart walked over slowly and looked over the felled half demon.

"Well, as much as I'd like to continue this farce, there are others that need my attention," Blackheart formed a blade out of his right hand and lifted it up. "So I will kill you without delay."

Before Blackheart could translate thought into action, a arrow wrapped in mystical energy rang out of the night, striking the demon lords outstretched hand and blasting it to pieces. Blackheart screamed in pain and stumbled back, clutching the stump that used to be his hand. The other demons and Inuyasha's group stopped fighting and looked up.

Kikyo perched on the roof of one of the tall buildings, her eyes icy cold as she silently drew another arrow, this one beaded on Inuyasha. She fired the arrow at a trajectory so that it destroyed the demons that bound him, but did not harm the half demon himself.

Now free, the demonized Inuyasha fought off the urge to continue fighting Blackheart and ran for his sword, grabbing it he reverted to his half demon state.

"Kikyo?" Inuyasha looked up at his old girlfriend, who smiled coldly.

"Inuyasha, you are mine, I will not allow anyone else to have…"

Kikyo quickly jumped, narrowly avoiding an arc of lightning that destroyed the roof of the building she was perched on. Inuyasha looked over to see an enraged Blackheart, his right hand healed, throwing dark lightning's at Kikyo.

"Miserable wench! You dare strike the likes of me?" the demon lord bellowed as he continued firing bolts of energy. Enraged by this attack, Inuyasha pulled up his sword and pointed it at Blackheart.

"Hey ugly, your fights with me, not Kikyo."

Blackheart, consumed by rage, ignored Inuyasha. The half demon lifted up his sword.

"Have it your way, WIND SCAR!"

Had Blackheart been paying attention to Inuyasha, he would have easily dodged the oncoming wave of energy. However, as Kikyo demonstrated, even a demon lord can be hurt if caught off guard.

The wind scar hit Blackheart with tremendous force, shredding his black shadowy body and reducing him to a puddle. The attack hadn't killed Blackheart, but had injured him enough where he wouldn't be able to assume his solid form for a few hours.

Inuyasha smirked and slung the Tetsaiga over his shoulder. He then turned to the other demons.

"Who's next?"

Inuyasha was answered when a large metal cross flew through the air and caught him in the head, dropping the half demon cold. The fighting group turned to see Nicholas D. Wolfwood standing there, smiling and smoking a cigarette.

"Well now, what seems to be the trouble here?"

Kagome pointed at the mob of demons, "They started it."

Jedah shook his head, "No, THEY started it, we were waiting here to greet a demon named Naraku, and they attacked us unprovoked."

"Naraku? Oh right the guy in the baboon cape. He's already here. Arrived this morning."

This caused demons and humans alike to blink.

"Wait a second," Miroku said, "We received word from the hotel staff that Naraku was arriving tonight."

Jedah nodded in agreement, "That's what we heard as well."

Wolfwood thought for a second. "The hotel staff that told you this, was it a blonde woman with light brown skin?"

Jedah nodded in agreement, as did Myoga (who had jumped to Kagome when Inuyasha engaged Blackheart.)

"Oh I see." Wolfwood walked past the mob and over to pick up his punisher cross. "Unfortunately the person who told you that was Mihoshi, a nice girl, but a bit of an air head. She read the arrival schedule incorrectly, Naraku arrived at ten AM, not PM."

The members of the round table looked at each other and sighed. Without the prize of the Shikon jewel, continuing the fight with Inuyasha's group was meaningless.

"Alright, let's get going everyone." Jedah said, vanishing through a portal, Q bee following suit. One by one the demons teleported away or vanished into dark alleys. Even Blackheart's prone form managed to escape, sinking through cracks in the street into the sewer system. Kagome and the others went over to help Inuyasha up and back to the hotel. Wolfwood simply walked back towards the arena. When Kagome looked up to thank Kikyo, she saw the undead priestess was already gone.

As Shang Tsung and his minions darted down the alleyways, accompanied by Kusaregedo and Lord Deimos, Shang occasionally looked up to the rooftops.

"That half demon would have been dead if that woman did not interfere." Lord Deimos commented, he was effectively saying what everyone else was thinking (except Kusaregedo, who was thinking about food.) "I wonder who she is."

Shang smiled to himself as he saw tiny soul collectors flying about. The other demons could not see them in their invisible state, but Shang could.

"Don't get too excited Deimos, I saw her first."

_On the rooftops_

Gaara of the dessert sat on the edge of a building overlooking the portal. He had come out to watch the full moon (and to protect his teammates incase Shukaku managed to come out as he was prone to on nights when the moon is full), but he had gotten an eyeful of the battle between Inuyasha and Blackheart.

"The Shikon jewel aye?" Gaara said standing up, "Ill have to inform the others of my finding."

And with that, Gaara vanished in a cloud of sand.


	5. Section 1

****

Infinity Grand Prix

Section One

_Grand Prix Arena_

It was finally here, the big day.

The arena was filled to capacity. The stands were filled with everyone to celebrities to average Joe's off the street to fighters who had not received invitations. Over a thousand cable companies over just as many dimensions were broadcasting the event on pay per view.

From the central office located high up behind the nosebleed seats Crinos and Washuu sat. Crinos nodded to Washuu as she turned on the speakers.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Crinos spoke through the speakers, "I am pleased to welcome you to the Infinity Grand Prix. Allow me to explain the rules of this little competition. Simply put, a fighter loses if they are lands in any place outside the ring, if they are injured to the point where they cannot continue, or when they are dead. In the case of the later, the fighter or his remains will be transported to their medical lab where they will be resuscitated by our crack medical team in less than fifteen minutes. If they fall out of the ring, they will likely land in our life size replica of the Jusenkyo spring, and be cursed with a random curse for the duration of the tournament!"

The arena went dark as a spotlight focused on the fighter's entrance.

"Now I am proud to introduce our ever faithful referee, the right honorable pirate captain Luffy D. Monkey!"

Luffy, dressed in traditional referee clothes, along with a ridiculous looking Afro, made his way down to the ring, shadow boxing and grandstanding as he did so. The crowd went absolutely nuts for it.

"And now, the moment you've been waiting for, the introduction of… our first fighter…"

****

Morrigan Aensland (MvsC2)

_Cold hard bitch_

Just a kiss on the lips

And I was on my knees

I'm waitin' give me

Cold hard bitch

She was shakin' her hips

Well, that was all that I need

Morrigan was troubled, she had been searching since she had arrived but had yet to find a doctor that might be able to help her ailing father. Still she didn't let her troubles prevent her from putting on a show for the crowd. Morrigan slinked down to the ring with all the style and grace of a ballet dancer (or a more erotic dancer). And her graceful and seemingly unintentional hip swaying and cleavage showing caused many a nosebleed among the male populace of the audience. (Poor Tenchi, who was watching from the staff room of the hotel, quite literally fainted.)

After Morrigan climbed into the ring, she leaned against a turnbuckle, she knew at this point her only shot at saving her father, and the rest of the Makai, was to win. Which was a tall order considering her current position.

After Morrigan's theme music ended, new music started up, as the fighter who drew the number two spot made her way down…

****

Jam Kuradoberi (GGXX)

Traditional Chinese music played as Jam entered the arena, carrying a plate of piping hot Chinese food in each hand. Throwing the food into the crowd (And accidentally scalding some kids from the Beyblade node), Jam came into the ring and looked over Morrigan, who was still leaning against the turnbuckle.

"So, looks like Ill have the honor of mopping the floor with you ya silicone inflated bitch." Jam smiled as she launched her assault, a flying Jump kick at Morrigan.

Morrigan causally sidestepped the kick and grabbed Jam by the hair, tossing her to the ground. Before the young bounty hunter could rise, Morrigan drove her foot into her chest.

"First off chicken legs, these," Morrigan squeezed her breasts together, inducing another nosebleed in the male population (And causing Tenchi to require medical attention), "Are real. Secondly, if anyone is getting thrown out, its you."

Jam responded by grabbing Morrigan by the foot and twisting, sending the Succubus spinning off, Jam quickly got to her feet and attempted to stomp Morrigan's head in.

_Abandoned warehouse near the arena_

Okay, mistakes were made, and we missed our chance to jump Naraku, but we shouldn't give up.

Shuma Gorath and the other demons in the Round table of Darkness sat around the warehouse grumbling. Blackheart, who had just reconstituted that morning, was especially irked.

"We no longer have the element of surprise. Naraku has no doubt hidden himself very well, and will reveal himself only when its time for him to fight."

"Plus," Shang Tsung added, "None of us are in the same section as Naraku, which means we might not even get a chance to fight him in the ring, where anything we do to him would be nice and legal."

Jedah, who was hanging upside down from the rafters, grinned.

"That's not a problem, all that means is we need to put the fighters in that section in our pocket. That way they'll get the Jewel for us."

"An excellent suggestion" Blackheart said, "But how do we coerce them into helping us?"

"Through the three "B's" Blackheart," Jedah jumped down to the ground and stifled a chuckle, "Blackmail, Brainwashing, and Bribery."

The other demons all shouted their agreements with Jedah's proposal, with the exception of Shang Tsung, who was in deep thought.

"Something on your mind Shang Tsung?" Jedah raised an eyebrow.

"Oh nothing, go ahead with your plan, while your setting it up, I will check up on our little sniper priestess from last night. I think she may be useful."

"You do that." Blackheart clenched his fist. "I'm gonna get that half breed bastard Inuyasha if it's the last thing I ever do."

_The Arena_

****

Gaara of the desert (Naruto)

__

Say your prayers little one

Don't forget, my son

To include everyone

Gaara entered the Arena to the tune of Metallica's "Enter Sandman". As the demon possessed ninja made his way down to the ring he thought about the battle he had witnessed the previous night. Gaara had come to the decision that he would acquire this gem for himself, and would avoid needlessly spending his energy in combat until this "Naraku" was in the ring.

Upon entering the ring, Jam, who had managed to get Morrigan tangled in the ropes, walked over to him.

"Well look at this, some freaky kid with no eyebrows. What's the matter with you? You got a disease or something? Or was your father your brother too?" Jam chuckled at her own joke, Gaara was clearly not amused.

"Shut up right now, or Ill kill you." The hidden sand Genin said flatly.

"Ooh, I'm so scared," Jam continued to taunt, "the scary kid with no eyebrows is gonna kill me, oh somebody help me."

Jam twirled around and launched a spinning kick at Gaara's head. Planning to decapitate him with one swift hit. But before the attack could connect, the sand in Gaara's gourd sprung into action, snaking out and blocking the attack.

Jam starred in shock, "What the…"

Gaara smiled, "Your absolutely right, the scary kid with no eyebrows IS gonna kill you. But nobody will be able to help you."

The Sand suddenly began to move around, encircling Jam in an attempt to engulf her, Jam quickly jumped out of the way and took off running.

Gaara simply smiled as he slowly walked after Jam, he had resolved to not fight until Naraku was in the ring and to depend on his sand shield for defense, but Gaara forgot that when he met Jam.

Afterall, he hadn't killed anyone and weeks and it was making him antsy.

****

Ukyo Kuonji (R1/2HB)

Ukyo came out with her employee Konastu, who was dragging an Okonomiyaki cart behind him. Ukyo had no real aspiration to win the tournament and the infinity gems (other than to make a certain martial artists hers and hers alone.), but did think that fighting in the tournament would be great publicity for her restaurant.

"Alright Konastu, remember to sell plenty of Okonomiyaki, and give out one free order to a customer each time I get an elimination." Ukyo said as she walked down towards the ring, a spatula in each hand.

"Whatever you say Ukyo." Konatsu happily agreed as he went into the crowd to start selling the carts wares.

Entering the ring, Ukyo looked around. Some weirdo with no eyebrows who used sand as a weapon was chasing that bitch that was fighting with Shampoo. And the succubus had just untangled herself from the ropes (and gotten some burns for her troubles). Ukyo decided to go with Morrigan for the moment and made her way over to the Succubus.

Morrigan grumbled as she dusted off her costume. She resolved to peel the flesh from Jam's bones once that kid with the sand was done with her. She barely noticed as Ukyo came over, spatula's ready.

****

Chang Kohen (CvS)

Choi Bounge (CvS)

Chang and Choi stomped down towards the ring together, by special request of Kim Kaphwan the two had been put in the same section (All the better for Kim to keep an eye on them) And the two Korean crooks were fully intent to tear up everyone in the ring.

That is, until Chang noticed Ukyo's Okonomiyaki stand.

"Hey Choi, I'm gonna grab a little snack before hitting the ring, you gonna be alright?"

Choi looked at Chang, then at the stand, then he smiled.

"Go for it dude, just don't be too long."

A slightly less confidant Choi made his way into the ring, while a very hungry Chang made his way over to the Okonomiyaki stand.

In the ring, Morrigan was blocking Ukyo's onslaught, when she noticed something behind the fighting chef that made the succubus laugh.

"What's so funny?" Ukyo asked.

"Well, I wasn't paying attention when you got into the ring, but is that your stand?" Morrigan pointed behind Ukyo.

Ukyo stared in horror, her Okonomiyaki stand had been reduced to rubble, and Konatsu lay unconscious on the ramp.

In the middle of all the wreckage was Chang Kohen, humming to himself as he devoured the stands wares, crumbs of Okonomiyaki in his beard.

Ukyo was so shocked by the sight that she had forgotten about Morrigan. Sensing opportunity, Morrigan delivered a shadow blade to Ukyo's back, sending her sailing across the ring and into Choi.

Ukyo looked at the tiny clawed man as she rose, tears streaming down her face.

"Is that your friend?"

Choi looked over at Chang. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

Ukyo pulled out her big spatula and smiled maniacally.

"Well then say hello to my friend, **misplaced aggression**!"

Choi shrieked in terror as he barely avoided being pounded flat by Ukyo. Cursing his friend's gluttonous ways, he took to his heels with Ukyo in hot pursuit.

****

Princess Peach (SSBM)

The young matriarch of the Mushroom Kingdom walked down the aisle of the arena, bowing to the audience and blowing kisses. Toad, her faithful retainer, followed closely behind. A young lady of royal birth, Peach prided herself on her good manners and modest sense of fashion, and had no time or tolerance for women like Morrigan who sought attention by acting trashy.

Fortunately, Peach could fight as well as she looked, and had big plans for "Straightening" Morrigan out.

_Grand Prix hotel, room 444_

Goentiz sat up in his bed and saw Orochimaru smiling at him.

"Have a good rest friend?"

Goentiz rubbed his head as he got up, his head was still throbbing from the ritual to upgrade his new curse seal to level two, he had insisted that all the members of the present Hakkeshu get level two curse seals before the big tournament. And Orochimaru had been the last go get his.

"Well, my head hurts like hell, but if it gives me the power you promised, It will be worth it."

Orochimaru nodded, "Just remember to keep your end of the bargain."

Goentiz nodded, "Yes of course, we will deliver the Uchina boy to you once we have captured Leona and Yamakazi and fitted them with curse seals. Which reminds me," Goentiz turned to the other members of the Hakkeshu, who were standing at attention.

"Heavenly Kings, you get Yamakazi, Mature and Vice, you get Leona. Bring them here by any means necessary."

The children of Orochi bowed and left. Goentiz lied back down on his bed.

"I'm still a little winded from my ordeal, Ill be resting for the moment. You may go Orochimaru, I shall call you if I have need for you."

Orochimaru bowed and left, Goentiz did not notice the visible scowl on the Ninja's face as he exited.

_The Arena_

****

Koga (I: AFF)

Koga the wolf demon entered the stadium surrounded by a massive tornado. The wall of wind flew down the runway and stopped short of the ring.

Koga leapt out of the arena and landed in the middle of the ring, he looked around and smiled, thus far nobody looked like they would provide any real challenge to him. Koga looked over to the pack of wolves that were waiting outside the ring, and nodded approvingly.

"Take it easy boys, I won't need your help for a while yet." Koga told his wolves, who bowed down in understanding.

****

Dandy J (WW7)

Dandy J, accompanied by his daughter and his pet cat Ramp, ran down the runway and leapt into the ring. Dandy decided to start off by picking off the meanest looking bloke he could find.

That just happened to be Koga, who he jumped, and began to wrestle to the ground with his rope. His daughter and Ramp cheering him on.

****

Ramon (KOF 2k1)

Ramon, like Morrigan was feeling a bit guilty about actions that occurred outside the ring earlier. Because he was busy signing autographs he was unable to help his teammate Iori on his attack on Orochimaru. Now his friend was missing and possibly in danger.

Ramon decided to make it up to Iori by winning the tournament in his honor, climbing up onto the ropes, he leapt high, planning on landing on the unsuspecting Koga and Dandy.

"Lucharaaan!"

Ramon came down, but unfortunately he landed on Ukyo, who was still chasing after Choi, swinging her spatula wildly. Ramon got a severe spatula beating for his trouble and the warrior chef continued her pursuit.

****

Lord Raptor (DS3)

Lord Raptor appeared on the runway, jamming on his guitar. After a few riffs drove the crowd into frenzy, he smashed the guitar on the ramp, lit it on fire, and pulled out a microphone.

"Remember kids, smoke crack and worship Satan! And no matter what anyone tells ya, sex feels better without a condom!"

With that, Raptor threw the mike away and leapt into the ring, giving Ramon a swift kick to the head.

_Central office_

Crinos and Washuu stared slack jawed at the monitor.

"He, he didn't just say that, did he?" Washuu asked.

Crinos sighed and rubbed his temples, "We must prepare for the inevitable backlash this will cause."

Washuu nodded, "What should I do?"

"Summon for me the most evil defense attorney money can buy! Oh, and fire whoever gave Raptor a working mike."

"Yes sir." Washuu answered.

_The Arena_

****

Remy (SF3: 3S)

Remy scowled as he went down to the ring, shielding his face from cameras and actually punching out a fan who got to close for Remy's comfort.

Remy couldn't stand tournaments like this. Magnets for fighters who ruined people's lives and abandoned their loved ones, and also the drunken yokels that supported them. Remy was determined to win the tournament so he could use the gems to create a world where people like that, people like his father, didn't exist.

And failing that, he would cripple as many of those fighters as he could.

****

Simon Belmont (DMTV: WF)

The eighties nostalgia crowd went absolutely ballistic as the famed vampire hunter made his way down to the ring. Simon ignored the cheering as he surveyed the ring.

He had come to this tournament not to win, but to slay vampires, he had heard at least two vampires were in attendance at this tournament, and was determined to defeat them both. Unfortunately neither bloodsucker was in the ring, so Simon decided to settle on the Succubus, who was currently fighting a dainty looking young princess.

****

Warhead (WG)

"WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GOD SUCK!"

Warhead, the first war god to enter this particular tournament, ignored the jeers and the thrown popcorn. Trapped in his own war-induced delusion, Warhead saw the arena as just another battlefield, and thus went for the appropriate target.

"DIE COMMIE PIG!" Warhead yelled as he launched a barrage of missiles at the extremely confused Jam, who was still narrowly avoiding death at the hands of Gaara. Ironically the poorly aimed missiles missed Jam and hit Gaara, sending the sand ninja careening into the ropes. Jam took this opportunity to lose Gaara by picking a fight with Ukyo, who she remembered from yesterday at the food court.

****

Kenshin Himura (RK)

Kenshin Himura, the first secret fighter of the tournament, made his way down to the ring, blushing at the cheering of the anime otaku in the back of the arena. Kaoru, Yahiko, Megumi and Sano all sat in the front, holding up signs and cheering their friend on.

When Kenshin got into the ring, he took on a serious tone, he had not found anything else out about the vampire Demitri Maximov, and was worried he wouldn't last in the ring long enough to fight him personally. (He had not entered to win of course, he had only entered to make sure the Infinity Gems did not fall into the hands of the wicked.)

Fortunately, Simon Belmont was in the ring. Kenshin had heard stories of the legendary vampire hunter, and decided to tell him what he knew about Maximov and his alliance with the samurai Genjuro.

Unfortunately, Belmont was currently at the other side of the ring, double teaming Morrigan with the assistance of Princess Peach. And there were several other fighters between the two, many of which were not fighting anyone currently. Sighing, Kenshin rolled up his sleeves, and started walking forward.

Even more unfortunate was the first fighter Kenshin running into being Remy. Who decided that it was high time to spoil Kenshin's good looks.

****

Amingo (MvsC2)

The crowd stared on in sheer confusion as Amingo took to the ring. Up until now all the fighters in the ring were human, or at least looked like they were human (As is the case of Morrigan, Warhead and Koga).

But Amingo was definitely not human, he was a big fat humanoid cactus with a sombrero and a pair of parachute pants on.

Amingo remained stoic as he took to the ring. He did not care a lick if the humans gave him applause or not, once he used the Infinity Gems to create a world where plants rule, Amingo would receive all the accolades he desired.

In the mean time, Amingo decided to go help out Ramon, who was getting pummeled by Lord Raptor. Afterall, he may have been a human, but he was still a countryman.

Also about this time, Chang had gotten his fill of Okonomiyaki. Looking up, he saw his partner Chang being menaced by a crazy woman with a spatula, and he also saw a very big and tasty looking Cactus man.

Picking up his ball and chain, Chang hummed merrily as he took to the ring at long last.

_Grand Prix hotel, room 123_

Iori Groaned in pain as he came too, looking around he was in unfamiliar surroundings.

He sat up and looked around, he was room done in a traditional Japanese style, complete with paper walls and tatami mats.

Iori continued to scan the room and noticed a gray haired ninja sitting in a nearby chair, reading a book. With a strange headband pulled down over one of his eyes.

Iori got up and launched a flying kick at the ninja, who vanished before Iori connected, only to appear behind him.

Iori blinked, "How the…"

Hayate Kakashi smiled, "Woah there, no reason to be all crabby, we did save your life afterall."

Iori didn't turn, but pointed a finger at Kakashi. "Sorry, but I'm not a morning person, and I hate being saved."

Iori concentrated to summon his flame, but nothing happened. Kakashi pulled out his book and continued to read.

"What? Where's my flame? What happened to it?"

"Orochimaru, he sealed your Chakra." Kakashi answered.

"Seal my chakra?" Iori looked down and saw a spiral shaped tattoo on his stomach.

Kakashi nodded, "Yeah. Your lucky that's all he did to you, why did you attack him anyway?"

Iori looked away and grumbled. "That's not your business."

Kakashi dropped his playful tone and gave Iori a hard look. "I'm making it my business. Now, the sooner you start cooperating with me, the sooner we can get your Chakra unsealed."

Iori looked back at Kakashi and smiled. "Sorry, but I don't play well with others, you want info? You'll have to beat it out of me."

Kakashi stood up as Iori dropped into a fighting stance. "You sure you want to do this? I'd be too much for you even with your fire jutsu."

"Don't count me out just cause I've lost some power, I don't need the flames to beat a wuss ninja like you! Lets go!" Iori answered.

Kakashi sighed and flipped through to the next chapter of his book, it was gonna be a long day.

_The Arena_

****

Mars People (CvS)

Mars people, a bulbous headed tentacled alien, slithered down to the ring. In one hand it clutched a shiny ray gun, in the other a cellular phone which it was currently "talking into"

"Beep Boop bop bop beep bo bo boop bop." The little alien said into the phone before closing it and climbing into the ring. The alien drew a bead on the nearest life form (Kenshin, who was still fighting off Remy.) and fired a blast.

Kenshin's warrior instincts let him sense the attack coming, he parried the blast with his reverse blade sword, sending the beam flying at Gaara. Gaara's sand attempted to block, but was no match for the energy beam, as it cut through the sand and then Gaara's shoulder.

_Central office_

"And let that be a lesson Washuu," Crinos said, "Sufficient technology can always overcome ninja magic."

"Already knew that Crinos." Washuu said non-chalant as she typed on her computer.

"What are you doing anyway?" Crinos asked, peering over Washuu's shoulder.

"I'm tracing that call the alien just made, I doubt he was ordering a pizza."

After a few minutes of typing, Washuu and Crinos stared at the monitor in horror.

"Get Vash and Knives in here Washuu." Crinos said breaking the silence.

Washuu gulped. "On it."

_Deep space_

A fleet of Martian ships soared through the empty void, having just received their orders from the fleet's commander. They began to make their way to the grand prix planet. Their mission was not a peaceful one.

_The Arena_

****

Yoshi (SSBM)

Yoshi, a little green dinosaur, merrily scurried down to the ring, much to the delight of the younger members of the audience. He, upon spotting Princess Peach, decided to help her out against Morrigan.

Unfortunately, Chang had other ideas. And promptly made his way over to the little green guy, determined to make him his dinner.

****

Tesse (WW7)

"Oh my this is so exciting!" The bubbly robot maid Tesse said to herself as she entered the arena. She noticed her rival Dandy J in the ring, and was debating to herself whether or not to attack him first.

Tesse forgot all about Dandy when she noticed Gaara, who was currently pulverizing Warhead with wave after wave of sand.

"Oh my, so much dirt and grime!" The Mega maid exclaimed, transforming her right hand into a vacuum. "This untidiness must be stopped!"

And the final fighter for this section…

****

Faust (GGXX)

Faust did not enter the arena by the door as the other fighters did. The gigantic doctor parachuted in from the sky using a parasol. Landing in the ring, he pointed up to the sky.

"Never fear good citizens! For I, Faust, the worlds greatest doctor, will cure all the worlds ills!"

Morrigan, who was still dodging the attacks of Peach and Simon, noticed the eccentric looking character and smiled.

"A doctor is he, well then. There may be hope for daddy yet."


	6. Section 1 results

****

IGP: The Infinity Grand Prix

Section 1 results

IGP Central Office

"You wanted to see us boss?"

Crinos turned in his chair to face Vash and Knives and rubbed his brow, sighing heavily. Washuu typed silently on her monitor grimly.

"We intercepted a message from the Mars people going into space."

Vash nodded. "And?"

Crinos sighed. "Well, as it turns out the Mars people in the ring is actually the leader of a space armada of the little buggers. They are en route to our planet."

Vash smiled, " Oh, they want to watch their leader fight? What's so bad about that?"

Knives translated Crinos' thought into action and smacked his brother upside the head.

"Thank you Knives" Crinos continued, "No Vash, they don't intend to cheer their boss on, if he gets eliminated they're going to saturate bomb the planets surface and try and take the gems by choice."

Vash blanched, "My god… all those people."

"Don't go all goofy on me Vash, they're not dead yet. Unfortunately our orbital death lasers are not operable right now for various reasons, which is why I called you two in here…"

Vash and Knives looked at each other, Knives smiled wickedly, and Vash just sighed. From all indications it was going to be a long day.

****

The Ring

Morrigan Aensland was pissed off. And with good reason, she was getting pummeled.

Nothing Morrigan was doing seemed to work against Princess Peach. At long range the Succubae was getting hammered by various turnips and other assorted vegetables. (Where they came from was a mystery to Aensland, Peach was apparently plucking them from the ground, but that was impossible considering the ring was metal, Not that Morrigan particularly cared at this stage.) And when she tried to retaliate with a soul fist, the Smash Brother (sister?) would pull out some strange mushroom like creature and block the attack, sending a blanket of poisonous spores Morrigan's way. Close range combat fared little better, When Morrigan tried to get in close she would get a racket or a Golf club or a frying pan to the side of the head for her troubles. Then Peach would run off before Morrigan could retaliate and began chucking produce at her again.

The Situation worsened when Simon Belmont entered the fray. Peppering the onslaught of Turnips with crucifix shaped boomerangs and whiplashes.

"Give it up foul temptress!" Simon snarled as he let loose another boomerang, "You cannot hope to avail against a vampire hunter from the house of Belmont!"

"That's right," Peach added, "We'll teach you to go outside dressed like that. I only feel sorry for the children in the audience who will be scarred for life after seeing such lewdness."

"I don't need this." Morrigan muttered as she looked past the attacking duo and at Faust, who was currently making sport of Warhead. Morrigan silently thanked the dark gods that the "Doctor" was still in the ring. But she had to get to him quickly and talk to him before either he or herself were eliminated.

Across the ring Kenshin Himura was having a similar problem trying to get to Simon. No matter what he attempted, Remy seemed insistent with picking a fight with him. Not that Remy was any realistic match for Kenshin; the former Battousai easily slashed his lights of virtue into nothing, and the green haired street fighter was sporting new bruises from Kenshin's reverse bladed sword.

Ideally, Kenshin could have ended the fight any time he chose. But he was curious about something.

Kenshin smiled politely as he cut through another wave. "Pardon me young man, but why are you so angry at me?"

Kenshin's Politeness, if nothing else, served to Infuriate Remy further.

"My problem is that you're a fighter, a warrior." Remy spat "All you fighters care about is feeding your own ego's, traveling around and picking fights without concern for man or property. You people don't care about anyone but yourselves!"

Kenshin nodded empathetically as he ducked a spinning kick and slammed his sword into Remy's chest yet again. "I can see why you may think that way, but I only use my sword to protect others. I usually avoid fighting when I can."

"Oh yeah RIGHT!" Remy snarled hatefully as he got ready to charge at Kenshin, "Like I'm supposed to believe what you…"

****

WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM

Remy fell down, most of his bones broken and his ribs cracked from Kenshin's assault. The street fighter was no injured enough to warrant elimination, but was very close.

"I'm sorry I could not convince you the error of your ways," Kenshin sighed deeply as he walked forward towards Belmont, "But I don't…"

"…Have time to play around here!" Morrigan snarled as the bats fluttering around her began to form into a huge laser cannon. Both Simon and Peach, who came from nodes that didn't feature hyper combos or supers, stepped back a bit in shock. "Now you two move or I'll move you! Understand?"

Recovering from his initial surprise, Simon pulled up his whip and took a step forward as Morrigan powered up her weapon. Behind him, Peach readied what looked like a bomb with eyes, feet, and a wind up key. She winked conspiratorially at Simon, who winked back and stepped to shield the princess.

"Not a chance witch." Simon said, and he charged.

****

IGP hotel, room 123

Hayate Kakashi rolled over groaning, the remains of his favorite girly book floated in the air like confetti. On his back were several bloody claw marks, signaling where Iori had hit him with his maiden masher a few minutes prior.

The fight between the Orochi spawn and the ninja resolved rather quickly. A combination of Iori's skill and Kakashi's overconfidence had spelled doom for the one eyed ninja. By the time Kakashi had realized he needed the sharingan wheel eye to even keep up with Iori, it was too late.

Iori sat on the bed, looking at pack of cigarettes he had in his pocket with frustration. Normally he lit his smokes using his power, but with his chakra sealed he couldn't manage so much as a spark.

"Damnit, now I know how that loser Shingo must feel like." Iori said to himself as he grabbed his shirt and headed to the door.

In the next room, Iori found a veritable army of ninja's waiting for him, about half a dozen cold stares from the hidden leaf Genin and Chuunin met Iori's. The Yagami family head smiled and cracked his knuckles.

"Who wants some?"

"That's enough Iori."

Iori looked past the Ninjas who took up the room to see Kyo Kusanagi leaning against a nearby wall, glaring at Iori.

Iori's eyes narrowed, "Where have you been Kusanagi?"

"Waiting for Chizuru, like you were supposed to be doing." Kyo replied, "I told you not to attack Orochimaru alone, as far as I'm concerned, you got what was coming to you."

"First off," Iori pointed at Kusanagi, "I don't take orders from anyone, least of all you. Secondly, I don't need that old bat Kagura telling me what I already know. Thirdly, once I get this seal thing taken care of, I'm gonna find Orochimaru and make Jiffy pop with his brain."

One of the young ninja's, a pale eyed boy kneeling on the floor, stifled a chuckle. Iori shot him a dirty look.

"I say something funny kid?" Iori took a closer look at the ninja, "And what the hell's up with your eyes? You blind or something."

The boy did not get up, "No, I'm not the blind one, you are, or maybe you're just stupid if you think you can fight Orochimaru on your own and win."

"Neji that's enough." Iori and Neji looked up to see Jiraya standing in the doorway, the Sennin walked in, shook Kyo's hand vigorously, and took a seat.

"I apologize for Neji's attitude, but he does have a point, you wouldn't last five minutes against Orochimaru, he's stronger than you think."

Iori shot another dirty look at Neji then walked over to where Jiraya was sitting. Neji didn't show it, but he was secretly glad that Jiraya had diverted Iori's attention, especially after he say the badly wounded Kakashi stagger in from the back room and join them.

"Orochimaru is a hack, I've fought the real Orochi before, he was tough, this guy's just a poser." Iori pulled out a chair and sat in it backwards. "Anyway, what about this seal thing, can you get it off me?"

Jiraya nodded, "Of course I can, but if I do, your going to have to promise not to go after Orochimaru half cocked again."

Iori grunted in contempt and looked away, Jiraya sighed.

"Look, I understand your powerful, the fact you beat Kakashi so easily, even without your powers, proves that. But a fight with Orochimaru without proper planning would be suicide. And I refuse to put anyone, even a perfect stranger, in that kind of danger."

"Oh Blah, blah, blah." Iori made talking motions with his hand. "Your gonna kill me with boredom if you keep this up, but if it's the only way I can get you to cooperate with me, Ill stay away from Orochimaru for now, at least until Kagura gets here."

Jiraya smiled and got up. "Great, lets get started."

****

IGP arena

Gaara leapt up into the air, narrowly dodging another energy blast from the Mars people. His sand shield didn't protect him from the strange creature's weapon, and the hidden sand ninja couldn't afford to take to many more hits without risking an appearance by Shukaku.

"Blast it, I have to finish this now." Gaara muttered to himself as he ran forward, rolling to avoid another bolt of energy. Once he was close enough, the sand in his gourd snaked out and rushed towards the Martian….

Only to change direction in the last minute and start going left.

Both Gaara and Mars's people blinked, then turned to see Tesse, humming merrily as she vacuumed Gaara's sand into her robotic body.

Gaara just stared at the robot made, consumed with a combination of confusion and blind rage. Mars's people however saw opportunity, and drew a bead on the distracted Gaara.

Fortunately for Gaara, before the alien could translate thought into action, a still smoking Simon Belmont and Princess Peach landed summarily on top of him. The duo helped each other up, looked at Mars people, then at Gaara, then collectively decided not to ask questions.

Across the ring, Morrigan smiled to herself with satisfaction and made her way over to Faust.

"Excuse me, Dr. Faust?" Morrigan tugged on the giant doctor's coat, spurring him to turn around. Faust took one look at Morrigan and tilted his head.

"I'm going out on a limb here, you're interested in birth control right?"

Morrigan shook her head.

"Plastic surgery?"

Morrigan looked herself over, "Do I look like I need it?"

"Good point, back trouble?"

"No, actually its about my father, he's very ill and…"

Before Morrigan could finish, Jam knocked the doctor clear across the ring with a flying jump kick. Morrigan glowered at this and stared at Jam as she pointed and laughed at the prone doctor.

However, before Morrigan could do much else, a large egg containing Chang Kohen slammed into her, sending her bouncing into the ropes and onto the mat. Yoshi, landing next to the pair, gagged slightly from Chang's foul taste.

Elsewhere in the ring, Lord Raptor was looking for fresh meat. He had just finished slapping around Ramon, and was not looking for someone else.

Coincidentally, Warhead was also looking for a new fight after getting slapped around by Faust, Jam, and Gaara. It was inevitable that the two would find each other.

"Well what do we have here? Some lily liver musician?" Warhead stepped up to Lord Raptor and started poking him in the chest, flinging spit into the zombie's face as he continued his diatribe.

"THAT UNIFORM IS A DISGRACE SOLDIER! AND YOUR HAIR IS TOO LONG! YOU'RE WORTHLESS AND WEAK! LISTENING TO THAT ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT AND DAY, YOU MAKE ME SICK! IS THAT A TWISTED SISTER PIN ON YOUR UNIFORM? WHO ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE?"

Lord Raptor looked at Warhead, then looked at his demon partner La Malta, who had morphed into a chainsaw and was attached to Raptors hand, then he smiled.

"I wanna _rock._"

****

Central office

Washuu looked over to Crinos, who smiled and nodded.

Washuu typed the command into her computer, and hit the button.

****

Arena

__

"Were not gonna take it.

Oh no, we aint gonna take it.

No were not gonna take it

Anymore."

Warhead was slightly distracted by the voice of Dee Snider now pouring out of the speakers, giving Raptor the opening he needed. With one fluid swipe, he bisected the war god, sending his separate parts tumbling to the ground.

It only took a second of rumbling and convulsing to convince Raptor that he had just done something really stupid.

You see, the ore affects each war god in a different way. Sure, they all get some similar abilities, (Teleportation, weapon creating, sucking like nobodies business.) But each war god had his own unique attributes as well.

In Warhead's case, the ore had transformed him into a living nuclear reactor, his innards were a seething mass of radioactive matter, kept in check only by Warhead's sheer force of will.

And with him now cut in twain, he no long had the strength to hold it in, he was going critical.

In Kenshin's node Nuclear weapons did not exist, and wouldn't exist for another 50 years or so, but Kenshin knew when something bad was about to happen. Acting quickly, The Ruroni rushed towards Warheads remains and pitched the upper torso over the ropes. Lord Raptor followed suit, picking up the lower legs and pitching them over as well.

The remains never reached the ground. The entire ring shook violently with the massive nuclear blast. Fortunately the arena's built in force fields kept the audience safe from the radioactive fallout.

Unfortunately, the faux Jusenkyo springs below the ring was not so lucky. As the War god's remains sprinkled into the springs like snow, the bodies of water turned green and began to glow.

****

Central Office

"This is bad," Washuu typed furiously on her computer, "No, this goes beyond bad, I'm gonna have to invent a new concept that's worse than bad in order to describe this."

"Its not so bad," Crinos replied, "We just give the elimination to Raptor, he was the one who chopped the guy in half."

"Not what I mean, I mean the Jusenkyo springs you had me fabricated have been contaminated."

Crinos shrugged, "So clean it up."

"Not that simple, the springs aren't just contaminated by radiation, but also by the ore."

Crinos blinked, "You mean that stuff that gives the War gods their 'powers'?"

Washuu nodded.

"So anyone who falls into one of those springs…"

"…Becomes a War God, possibly forever."

Crinos sighed and rubbed his temples. "It's alright, the Jusenkyo springs were something of a one trick horse anyway. Stopped being funny after Pantyhose Tarou got in on the act." Crinos didn't sound terribly convincing.

"So what do we do?"

"Figure out some gimmick to replace the springs. In the meantime put some net or something over the springs to make sure no one falls in by mistake."

Washuu nodded and began typing again, then got a sly smile, as if inspiration had struck.

"Boss, I just got what may be my best idea yet."

****

The Arena

"He ate me, I can't believe it, he ate me!" Chang Kohen was seething with rage as he looked around for Yoshi, "I'm supposed to be the guy who eats him, I'm bigger than him!"

"Tell someone who cares", Morrigan said as she vector drained Jam to the mat for the fifth time, "Anyway, what about your tiny friend?"

As if on cue, Choi ran by, still being chased by Ukyo. The fighting chef's eyes had murder in them as the duo ran around Chang.

After about a minute of this, Chang stuck out his foot, and tripped Ukyo. Choi stopped running and nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

"Chang… thanks…. Took you long enough though…"

Chang shrugged innocently as Ukyo got up, even more enraged now than she was five minutes ago (If that was at all possible.) "Alright, who tripped me?"

Chang hoisted his iron ball and smiled, "That would be me, got something to say about it?"

Ukyo glared at giant Korean for a minute, screamed inarticulately, then charged Chang with her giant spatula, slamming it against the giant's gut.

Chang grunted out of annoyance and was pushed back slightly, the Spatula broke into splinters.

Discouraged, but by no means ready to give up, Ukyo jumped back and pulled out a pair of smaller spatula, and began chucking them at Chang.

The smaller spatula bounced off the giant Korean's tummy. Chang giggled.

"Alright then," Ukyo fell into a fighting stance, "Lets try hand to hand!"

Once Ukyo had gotten into range, her fate was sealed. Chang raised his iron ball high and smashed it into Ukyo, staggering her, then hit her with it again, and again, and again, and again.

By the fifth hit, Ukyo had a concussion, by the eighth hit, Ukyo had incurred permanent brain damage.

By the time Chang was done, she was more or less dead on her feet.

Chang turned to Choi and gave him thumbs up, the tiny Korean nodded, ran behind Ukyo, and sent her flying out of the ring with a well placed ass poke.

Ukyo plummeted downward, towards the contaminated spring, but instead landed on a sturdy mesh net. Groaning, Ukyo rolled off the net and into a dimensional portal that opened to the medical lab of the IGP arena.

****

Room 46, IGP hotel

Demitri and Genjuro had been watching the event since Ukyo had hit the ring, waiting for this exact moment, the moment when Ukyo was eliminated.

"You know what to do." Demitri responded to his hired gun (Or sword, as the case was).

Genjuro nodded and headed out towards the medical lab to ambush Ukyo when she exited. Demitri pulled out a pocket watch and looked at it, soon it would his turn to compete in this silly tournament, and that would be the opportunity to capture the Chinese amazon Shampoo.

****

IGP Arena

Gaara leapt in the air again, dodging another of Tesse's projectiles (This one a mechanical bird). The whole affair was annoying Gaara to no end, the robot maid had a near infinite array of things she could throw at Gaara and without his sand to protect him he was forced to rely on his speed to evade the attacks.

Leaping up and avoiding a bolt of electricity, Gaara noticed something. Every time Tesse threw an attack at Gaara she would bulge and convulse slightly, as if something inside her was trying to break out.

Gaara nearly kicked himself when he realized what was going on; his sand was still inside the woman, and was trying to escape to shield Gaara.

Stopping his movements, Gaara reached out a hand and began to focus his chakra. Tesse also stopped, but it wasn't by choice. Inside her mechanical body loud grinding and sputtering, the results of years of erosion being done in a few seconds could be heard.

After about a minute of convulsing, Tesse literally fell to pieces. Gaara's sand rose up from the wreckage and returned to the sand ninja's gourd. A small yellow gem, the size of a grapefruit, rolled to his feet as Tesse vanished in a brilliant flash.

Meanwhile, Amingo and Ramon, who were fighting nearby, decided to move away from Gaara before he had turned on one of them.

Dandy J on the other hand, was very interested in fighting Gaara. The Australian brawler was still wrestling on the ground with Koga (And losing badly.), but had managed to keep an eye on Tesse since she had gotten into the ring.

Summoning an uncharacteristic amount of strength, Dandy threw Koga off and ran up to Gaara, whipping him in the face with his rope.

Or at least trying too, with his sand back Gaara easily deflected the attack.

"Got a suicide wish?" Gaara glared at Dandy.

"Nah, I just want that yellow gem you picked up from the misses, now hand it over mate."

Gaara looked down at the Yellow gem then willed his sand to pick it up and draw it into his gourd.

"Come and get it. "Mate.""

Dandy cracked his knuckles, stretched his neck, then spat up blood as an annoyed Koga drove his fist through Dandy's chest from behind. Gaara watched as Dandy coughed up blood, died, then vanished in a brilliant flash as Tesse did before. Gaara also noticed that like Tesse, Dandy had left behind a gem, this one blue. Gaara shrugged and willed his sand to pick up the gem to add with the other, then he turned his attention to Koga.

The two stared each other down, like the predators they were. Koga could tell that Gaara was human, but his scent carried an unpleasant after taste to it. Gaara was getting the same vibe from Koga, although to a lesser extent.

After a few minutes of staring each other down, Gaara got bored and teleported away in a cloud of sand. If Koga was relieved, he hid it well as he searched out his next prey.

Sadly, Faust was looking for his next prey as well, and had settled on Koga.

"My My, what an unusual creature, you look human but you smell like a wolf? Are you a hybrid of some sorts? A kind of wild child? A new type of gear? By all means stop me if I get it right."

Koga glared as Faust shuffled around him like a hermit crab on crack. "I'm a wolf demon bub, so back off or Ill strip you to your bones."

Faust's face lit up (Not that you could tell with that paper bag on his head.) "Oh goody! A demon!" Faust pulled out his giant scalpel and dropped into a fighting stance, "I never see demons anymore, I simply must dissect you now! Your body could hold any type of medical secrets!"

Koga whistled, and the wolves who had been sitting in the run way since the match started stood at attention and leapt into the ring, surrounding Faust. Koga smirked confidently, now that he had the strange human surrounded victory was undoubtedly his.

Faust craned his head at the wolves. "Well now, how to handle this? Oh, I know!"

Faust reached into his pockets, and produced several miniature versions of himself. Koga just laughed.

"That's your weapon? What are they going to do?"

Faust said nary a word, but simply threw the mini Faust to the ground. Within a few minute all the wolves were either being held down by the miniature clones or too busy chasing them around to give Koga a second Glance.

Koga clenched his teeth, "That's a cheap trick you freak."

Faust waved his finger, "No that is evening the odds." Faust produced a small black bomb and threw it to Koga's feet. "Now, THAT'S a cheap trick!"

The resulting explosion knocked Koga into the air and onto the ground. The wolf demon saw stars as he struggled to get up, but before he could get upright Faust slammed a foot down on his chest.

"Now just sit back and relax, I'm a trained professional, you have nothing to fear but fear itself, where has that finger been…" Koga struggled impotently as Faust babbled on. Much to his chagrin the Doctor possessed a strength which belied his wiry frame. Koga's struggles intensified as Faust brought his scalpel to Koga's chest.

"Now, lets see if I can cut a straight line…"

Koga's screams of agony sounded through the arena, many of the audience members looked away, while others started losing their lunches. A few even began to exit the arena. Kenshin, who was being double-teamed by Amingo and Ramon, looked over to see Faust at "work", and felt his blood boil. Morrigan, who was dealing with Jam and Princess Peach, looked over at Faust and felt her blood boil for an entirely different reason.

"Oh wow, look at him go!" The succubae said to herself as she parried a frying pan swing and ducked a Karate chop. "Such cruelty, such a warped sense of perception, he's perfect! If anyone can help daddy it's him!"

Morrigan was so distracted that Peach was able to get a good shot in with her frying pan, sending the succubae down. Jam picked Morrigan up and drew back her fist.

Only to have it stopped by Peach.

"What are you doing?" Jam asked as she tried to break free from Peaches grip.

"I seem to have misjudged this young lady. I thought she was just a filthy skank. Turns out she's a filthy skank, and also a complete psychopath. But she's also trying to help her dad, and I can't fault her for that. So get your mitts off of her!!"

Jam glared at Peach. "Make me."

Peach responded by slapping Jam in the face. The Chinese bounty hunter was so stunned that she dropped Morrigan. Sensing weakness, Peach continued the onslaught, slapping Jam in the face again and again and slowly forcing her back towards the ropes. With a twirl of her gown, Jam went flying over the ropes and into the net below.

Morrigan at this point had gotten herself up and was rubbing the bump on her head she stared at Peach for a second, who was looking very embarrassed with herself, and didn't know how to react to the Smash sisters sudden change in opinions.

"Um, sorry about attacking you like that, if I had known you were in this to help your dad…"

"Don't worry about it," Morrigan said as she stretched seductively, making Peach look away in embarrassment, "I've had worse reasons for people wanting to kill me."

Peach brightened up a bit, "So were cool?"

Morrigan smirked and wagged her finger, "Not quite yet…"

It was at this point Morrigan blew a kiss at Peach, the kiss turned into in actual heart as it flew towards her. Peach, not knowing what it was, allowed it to hit her.

A thin pink curtain surrounded the pair, leaving only shadows and the audience's imagination to tell what was going. Moans of pleasure escaped the curtain as the shadows within flickered and moved about. People who had left in disgust over Faust's treatment of Koga came right back in.

Faust himself began to slink over to the curtain. Morrigan's peep show had begun about the same time that Faust's snuff show had finished. (All in all Faust was disappointed, Koga's innards appeared close to humans, and the tournament heads had removed Koga from the ring before he could get a better look at them.) Faust peeped his head through the curtain, then quickly pulled it back, noticeably blushing through his bag.

The crowd obviously approved the scene, as they had been cheering louder than they were when Warhead had been eliminated.

A minute later the curtain receded. Morrigan was on her feet, Peach wasn't. After confirming her Inability to fight, Luffy signaled her elimination and the Princess vanished from view.

"Now, were even." The succubae cooed contentedly.

****

Central Office

Washuu and Crinos stared slack jawed at the ring.

"Uh Washuu Chan, about that lawyer…"

"Already taken care of," Washuu blinked, "He should be here in about an hour."

Crinos rubbed his temples, "Somehow I don't think that will be soon enough."

****

Outskirts of IGP City

In the barren, sulfur soaked landscape surrounding the IGP City, there were few tree's hardy enough to survive. Despite this Kikyo had managed to find one.

The undead priestess lay lazily in the branches of the old and twisted tree. Her soul collectors floated around her, some of them holding souls of dead women she had brought from her home node. Kikyo's draw in the tournament was relatively late, so she was in no great hurry to get to the arena. For the time being she was content to rest up for her turn and try and relax.

__

Ahem

Kikyo looked down to see Shang Tsung standing at the base of the tree, his arms folded behind him. Cautiously, Kikyo reached for her bow and arrow, her eyes show more annoyance than fear.

"Don't bother with the arrows my dear, if I were here to fight you would likely to be dead by now."

Kikyo sat back again and folded her hands in her lap. "How did you find me?"

"My servant Reptile has been tracking you." As if on cue, a reptilian humanoid appeared from nowhere besides Shang Tsung. "He doesn't have much for looks, but he is an infallible tracker."

Kikyo did not seem impressed. "And how did you pierce my protective barrier I erected?"

Tsung smiled, "I am a demon sorcerer from Outworld. For me thwarting your peasant magic was mere child's play."

Kikyo considered the implications of this for a moment, "If you are not here to fight, then why?"

"Because I want to solicit your assistance, I believe we have a mutual enemy."

"You mean Naraku?"

Shang Tsung nodded, "Yes, me and my associates wish to take the Shikon jewel and divvy it up amongst ourselves."

"That doesn't interest me, besides which within Naraku's body beats the heart of the human Onigumo, as long as that as true he cannot touch me."

"Perhaps not, but there are other things I can offer you, may I come up?"

Kikyo shrugged, "If you must."

Shang Tsung climbed the tree and sat across from Kikyo. Reptile, unable to leave the barrier without his master, leaned against the tree and waited. After getting himself situated, Shang Tsung grabbed one of the soul collectors floating about.

"Marvelous creatures," The evil sorcerer commented as he looked the tiny eel like demon over in his hand. "I require souls in order to keep my youth, I assume you have a similar situation."

Kikyo remained silent, so Shang continued. "Well, In order for me to get souls I have to defeat living opponents in combat then remove their souls before killing them. But these things, they get rid of all the guesswork. All you have to do is sit around and they bring the souls to you."

"My patience wears thin wizard," Shang Tsung noticed Kikyo reaching for her bow once again, "Do you have a point?"

"My point, dear Kikyo, is that for all these utility, these little soul collectors can't bring you the one soul you need above all others, the soul of Kagome."

Kikyo froze in shock. Shang was actually pleased to see the priestess could at least show some emotion. "Yes my dear, I know all about your relationship with the girl."

"But… how?"

"I first noticed the similarity of your souls when you attacked Blackheart last night. I thought it was odd so I bid my other servant Kano to do some digging. On the computers files this tournament provides, we found out all about you; How you protected the Shikon jewel and fell in love with Inuyasha, how you tended the bandit Onigumo only to have him become Naraku and destroy you. How you were resurrected 50 years later and now seek to destroy Naraku and drag Inuyasha down to hell with you afterward. The point, my dear, is that I can help you with your one major obstacle, Kagome."

Kikyo snorted with contempt. "I'd hardly consider Kagome to be an obstacle."

"But she is. You think Inuyasha will willingly follow you into hell with her around? I know she thwarted your attempt to drag Inuyasha into hell once before did she not?"

Kikyo's cold silence confirmed Shang's story. "So what do you propose?"

Shang smiled. "As fate would have it, you and I are in the same section as Kagome. I can remove her half of your soul and return it to you. Her death will break Inuyasha's spirit, and you will be able to take him to hell at your leisure."

"And Naraku? What of him and the Shikon Jewel."

"Naraku is, for all intents and purposes, already dead. As we speak my fellow demons are putting together a crack team of assassins to destroy the half-breed and claim the Jewel. As for the Jewel, it will be divvied up between us demons, most of whom live in hell or the equivalent."

"Alright, I see what I get out of it," Kikyo's eyes narrowed. "What about you?"

Shang Tsung released the soul collector from his grasp and leaned back. "You can sense the jewel's presence. And in this foreign dimension Naraku cannot shield himself from detection. If Naraku manages to escape the arena with the jewel you will assist us to track him. Your presence will also discourage Inuyasha from meddling in our affairs for the time being."

Kikyo considered her options for a moment. She did not trust Shang Tsung. But his plan sounded more than reasonable.

"Very well, inform your comrades that I will join them. Provided they take no action against Inuyasha or his friends until I say otherwise."

"Agreed, you will find us in an abandoned building near the arena, the demon aura surrounding it is strong, so you'll have little trouble spotting it."

Shang Tsung leapt from the tree and headed out the force field, reptile in tow. After walking a ways Shang and Reptile were stopped by a white haired boy wearing glasses and a headband with a sound note on it.

"And who might you be mortal?" Shang Tsung inquired, resting his hand on the hilt of his blade. Behind him, Reptile hissed like a snake and arched his back. The boy cleared his throat and bowed.

"I am Kabuto, of the village hiding in sound. I come bearing a-"

"Wait," Reptile interrupted, Kabuto seemed surprised by the lizard mans ability to talk. "How can one hide in sssound? Ssseemssss unlikely to me."

Kabuto shrugged, "Does it really matter?"

"Not it doesn't." Shang Tsung gave his servant an angry gaze, "Please continue."

"Anyway, I come bearing a message from my master's newest ally, Leopold Goentiz."

Shang raised an eyebrow, "The Orochi priest? What does he want with me?"

"At the moment nothing more than an audience, he is in room 444 of the IGP hotel. Be there in an hour, come alone." Kabuto stared warily at Reptile, then vanished in a blur. Shang Tsung stared at his minion, then smiled.

"Well now, Isn't this a pleasant surprise."

****

The Arena

Ramon flew back into the robes and fell to his knees, gasping for breath. In front of him, Amingo cracked his knuckles (or the plant equivalent to knuckles) and began to advance.

Ramon began to shake with rage. Ever since he had gotten into the ring every other fighter at one point or another had knocked him around. Even the war god had managed to get a few hits in on him before he got eliminated. Conversely, Ramon had done next to no damage to any of the other fighters. In short, he was pissed, in a big way. And was ready to open a can of Luchador brand whoop ass on this cactus like freak in front of him.

Ramon screamed and charged. Amingo saw him coming a mile away and stepped to the side. By the time Ramon realized he had missed it was too late to stop him from plowing into Faust, who was chatting with Morrigan nearby.

Not that Faust didn't see the attack coming either. Before got close enough to connect with his ill aimed clothesline Faust turned, spun around like a cartoon character and changing into baseball apparel, then sent the wrestler clear out of the ring with a well placed strike.

Faust turned back to Morrigan. "Now, as I was saying, Ill be more than happy to help you out with your father Ms. Aensland."

Morrigan smiled politely, "Thank you Faust. Till then, lets watch each others backs shall we?"

Faust nodded, "Good Idea, Incidentally, duck."

Morrigan did, and a cross shaped boomerang meant for her whizzed by Faust and struck Amingo square in the back. Pulling the projectile out of his rear, the humanoid cacti looked for the culprit.

Faust teleported away, reappearing across the ring, (And smacking lord Raptor in the back of the head with a door when he did) While Morrigan took to the air. Leaving nothing between Amingo and Simon Belmont.

Belmont, not one to back down from a monster, cracked his whip and beckoned the monster forward.

Amingo smirked and reached for something beneath his sombrero. If there was one thing Amingo enjoyed, it was fighting at his own speed.

Flicking several seeds to the ground, Amingo watched as they grew into a squad of tiny humanoid cacti, all wearing tiny sombreros. Simon Belmont was not overly shocked by this sight (being a professional monster slayer means you see a lot of weird stuff in your line of work.), But he was annoyed by the proposition of having to fight an army of miniature foes to get to his opponent.

Still, a vampire hunter's got to do what a Vampire hunter's got to do. Simon began slowly walking forward, cracking his whip as he did and slashing one of the tiny advancers. Fortunately for him they weren't very tough, and a single strike was enough to destroy one of the little foes.

Getting nervous, but not showing it, Amingo began to back away. As he did, he dropped more seeds to the ground, producing more miniature cacti men.

To no avail, as Simon continued to advance.

It continued for about a minute, Simon advanced, and Amingo retreated, until Amingo was backed up completely against the ropes, and could retreat no more.

Simon pulled his whip tight in his hand as he got in close. "If it's any consolation, Ill make it short and painless."

Amingo smirked, Belmont had fallen right into his trap.

When Simon got into striking range, Amingo made his move. Slamming his fists into the ground, Amingo morphed into a giant beanstalk, which grew high into the air, carrying Simon Belmont up with him.

Simon fell to the mat moments later, groaning in pain. Amingo waddled over and looked over his prone opponent. All that was left now was to throw him out of the ring.

Which would have happened if not for Chang Kohen, who was right behind Amingo.

When Simon got his wits about him, he saw the somewhat disturbing site of Chang Kohen eating the pulped remains of Amingo with his hands before the carcass was teleported to medical. Simon was about to thank Chang for all his help, when he noticed Choi Bounge come up besides him.

"Hey whip guy, you okay?"

"Gah! A Flea man! I hate those!"

Choi blinked, "What did you just call me?"

Simon drew his whip, "I know just how to deal with your kind. Prepare to die minion of Dracula!"

Choi blinked again, Chang this time joined him. "Servant of who?"

Before Choi got an answer he was already flying out of the ring, screaming Korean obscenities at the Vampire hunter. Chang grumbled and picked up his ball and chain to avenge his fallen comrade.

Then Yoshi scurried by, Ate Chang again, and sent him flying across the ring again in egg form. Simon Belmont blinked, and smacked the tiny dinosaur with a cross-shaped boomerang. Knocking him back and out of the ring. Simon turned and went in search of the Succubae Morrigan, not noticing that Yoshi had managed to get himself back into the ring by flapping his arms and hovering back.

****

IGP Green room

"I'm Very disappointed in those two."

Kim Kaphwan, Jhun Hoon, and May Lee were all watching the IGP on the big monitor the IGP staff had provided. Kim was smiling, as per usual, but May and Jhun knew he was pissed.

"Don't be hard on them Kim," May said, "You know how crazy Chang gets around food, he can't help himself."

"Its not that May." Kim said, folding his arms and shaking his head. "I was referring to Choi being a minion of Dracula behind my back! And I bet Chang knew it all along too! Oh those two are gonna get a mess of new training for this."

Jhun and May looked at each other, realized it was pointless to argue further, and continued to watch the match in silence.

****

Arena

Kenshin stopped for a minute to catch his breath. Things were not going so good.

Kenshin's success as a swordsman could be attributed to his godlike speed and his ability to predict his enemy's moves in battle. But Faust's own comparable speed and bizarre maneuvering were effectively canceling out Kenshin's Hiten Mitsirugi style.

Fortunately for Kenshin, Simon Belmont was right behind him, and a well placed boomerang knocked the doctor back and into Morrigan, who was standing close behind. Kenshin turned to his rescuer and smiled.

"I'm most appreciative of your help Mr. Belmont, that I am."

Belmont shrugged, "Thanks, but I was aiming for the Succubae, Kenshin right?"

The former Battousai nodded. "Yes, and I must talk to you of an urgent matter."

Before Kenshin could continue he sensed danger. Grabbing Simon her ducked a hail of energy blasts coming from Mars people. Raising his sword, Kenshin deflected one of the energy blasts back at the Mars people, grazing its skull. Muttering obscenities under his breath, Simon Belmont rose, drew a boomerang, and used it to split the dazed alien in twain. The two halves vanished moments later.

Simon looked at Kenshin, "Now, you were saying?"

****

Outer space, near the IGP home world

The crew of the Mars people fleet beeped amongst themselves as they readied the controls to launch the assault. With their leader eliminated they knew their only shot at the Infinity Gems was to take the gems by force.

So busy were the Mars people with their preparations that they failed to notice the massive energy blast coming from the planet surface.

The mother ship sustained heavy damage. Weapons were offline, the engine was damaged, and the gravity generators were shot. But the blast only grazed the ship, so no life was lost.

Unfortunately for the Mars people, the second beam that followed the first was somewhat more accurate.

****

Roof of the IGP Arena

"Knives!" Vash snapped at his brother as they both disengaged their angel arms, "Our orders were to fire warning shots. WARNING SHOTS!"

Knives smiled and shrugged. "That was a warning shot for me, had I been so inclined I could have ricocheted the beam off the that ship and hit the rest of them."

****

Central office

"Sensors indicate the Martian warship has been destroyed and the other ships are in full retreat." Washuu smiled as she looked over to Crinos.

"Good, anything else I should know?"

"Yeah, two other nodes want entry in the tournament."

"No way Washuu, were already over booked as it stands." Crinos thought for a second. "Which nodes?"

"The Galactic wrestling node and the Digimon rumble node."

Crinos nodded, then thought for a second, "Galactic wrestling?"

"Kinnikuman, you know, Ultimate muscle?"

"Oh yeah! I love those guys, Digimon too, how many fighters in all?"

"Forty-seven, I can also scare up three more Maverick fighters to bring us to an even 350."

Crinos thought it over, then nodded.

"Alright, lets do it. But that's it, no more new fighters. Anyone else comes along, they can fudge themselves."

Washuu nodded and began to type, making the appropriate changes to the fight card. Then added something as an afterthought.

"Also, the dimensional warp drive is warmed up, I can activate it at my leisure."

Crinos smiled and nodded, "Do it in five minutes, when the next set of fighters is scheduled to show up."

"You got it boss."

****

The Arena

"And that's all I know up to this point." Kenshin said as he mock battled Belmont. The vampire hunter nodded.

"Thank you for the information. When Maximov enters the arena next section we shall attack him together and prevent his evil scheme."

"Not if we have anything to say about it!"

Kenshin and Belmont turned around only to get knocked off their feet by a Light of virtue and a Yoshi egg respectively. As they got up, they saw Remy and Yoshi looming before them, murder in their eyes. Kenshin and Belmont just looked at each other.

"Evens"

"Odds"

"SHOOT!"

The two heroes shot and came up with a four. Kenshin sheathed his sword and walk towards the duo, his hand resting on the hilt.

Remy made the first move, charging right with fists blazing. Kenshin caught him in the face with his reverse blade sword, striking with such speed and force that the street fighter shot clear out of the ring. Kenshin then ducked dodging Yoshi's tongue slurp. Kenshin quickly attacked with a rising slash, but Yoshi leapt up and attempted a spinning butt slam. Kenshin dodged and got ready for another attack. Yoshi morphed into a giant egg and rolled at Kenshin, but the former Battousai dodged once again, this time by jumping.

When Yoshi exited the egg, Kenshin swung his sword again and Yoshi ducked…

Only to get smashed in the nose by Kenshin's sword sheath. The Smash Brother went flying out of the ring, and this time he didn't get a chance to fly back in.

Kenshin smiled as he walked over to Simon Belmont, "Well, that takes cares of our problems for now at least."

"Not quite."

Simon turned in time to get hit with a soul fist, staggering him. Kenshin narrowly dodged a Scalpel slash from Faust. Going back to back, the pair saw they were surrounded.

Morrigan and Faust were a given, after all Simon had been trying to eliminate Morrigan from the start, and Faust was her current ally. Lord Raptor, who had come to the conclusion that the Vampire hunter had been ignoring him, decided to join with Morrigan and Faust to tear Belmont apart. Chang, furious at the elimination of his best friend and his potential dinner, palmed his Iron ball, Intent on pounding the duo into pudding.

The only fighter not in on this was Gaara, who was looking up and trying to figure out when the dome to the arena had been closed.

Simon smiled, "Tight spot."

"I've been in tighter."

"You any good with large groups?"

"A specialty of mine, you?

"I usually fight one on one, but the guys I fight are usually huge, I'm talking the size of large huts."

"Only four of them, I'll take the zombie and the woman."

"Okay, I'll take the fat man and the doctor."

Kenshin and Simon drew their respective weapons, took a deep breath and charged.

****

IGP Central office

"It's been five minutes boss." Washuu looked down at her watch. Crinos nodded, and Washuu typed in the command.

****

IGP Arena

The big standoff came to a screeching halt as the fighters noticed a strange phenomenon.

At first the air began to shimmer, like a black top on a summers day. Then there was a strange hissing noise. The next thing the fighters knew they were falling, spiraling into a strange dimensional rift that used to be the ring. The crowed showed the same disturbance and confusion that the fighters did before their disappearance, but Crinos' voice over the loudspeaker reassured them.

"Don't worry folks, it's all part of the show."

****

Dark round table HQ

"Here we go." Kano smiled evilly as he printed out the latest copy of the IGP fight card, updated to include the 50 additional fighters, Although Shang Tsung had not yet return, and Kusaregedo and Red Aremeer were both out, the remaining demons were waiting patiently for the list to print out.

Kano handed the list to Blackheart, who walked over to a support beam and nailed the list to it.

"Alright, demons who are here now. We will each pick one fighter on this list and coerce them into attacking Naraku for us. Use any tactics you desire; Blackmail, mind control, temptation, it doesn't matter. Just get them on our side by any means necessary, preferably without drawing the attention of security."

Jedah looked at the list. "Well, I know who I'm picking."

Me too, Shuma Gorath added.

"I shall be going in lord Asmodeus' place." Lord Deimos said, his arms folded. "He is readying himself for his fight."

"Very well," Blackheart stated, "I know who I want." Blackheart turned to Kano, "When your master Tsung gets in tell him to choose someone from the list and recruit them. Same for Aremeer."

Kano nodded, "What about the other guy?"

"Kusaregedo? Don't bother with him, he isn't on this team for his brains. Now the rest of you move out!"

The demons nodded and vanished into the shadows, off to search for unwitting fighters to manipulate.

****

Final results for section 1

(Out of seven voters)

****

Faust 6/1= 5 net votes

Kenshin Himura 6/1= 5

Simon Belmont 6/1 = 5

Chang Kohen 6/1 =5

Morrigan Aensland 5/2 = 3

Gaara of the desert 5/2 =3

Lord Raptor 4/3 =1

****

Line of elimination

Koga 4/3 =1

Princess Peach 4/3 =1

Choi Bounge 3/4 = -1

Jam Kuradoberi 3/4 =-1

Remy 3/2=-1

Ukyo Kuonji 3/4=-1

Yoshi 3/4=-1

Amingo 3/4=-1

Mars People 2/5=-3

Tesse 2/5=-3

Dandy J 1/6=-5

Warhead 1/6=-5

Ramon 0/7=-7

****

Bonus match:

Iori Yagami (4) (with chakra seal) **Mashes** Hayate Kakashi (3).

****

Fighters who got elimination's: Faust, Kenshin, Simon: 2, Chang, Morrigan, Gaara, Lord Raptor, Koga, Princess Peach, Choi Bounge: 1

****

Current Elimination leaders: Faust, Kenshin, and Simon: 2 each

****

Sorry Racewing: With myself being the seventh voter, the first section of the IGP got six votes. Double what the first section of the fiction fighters clash (Racewing's UVR spin-off) got in its first section. Nice to know that people are interested in my story.

****

Luchadore's are the suck: Ramon has the dubious honor of being the only fighter that didn't get a single live vote. Even Warhead did better than him.

****

Spot seven split: As you may have noticed, there was a three way tie for seventh place (The space before elimination stated) and that Lord Raptor got it instead of Peach or Koga. Why did Raptor get it? Random choice. Don't like it? tough.

****

Speaking of disappointment: If your upset I bailed on the Jusenkyo spring feature, I'm sorry. But I've come up with a new feature in the last month I think you'll like better. Also, the reason I added 50 new fighters is because I've been playing some new games in the previous month, and I decided it would be a sacrilege to include these new fighters into the fic.

**Why I love voting fanficiton: **What really surprised me is the voting on the bonus match. I was totally expecting Kakashi to wipe the floor with Iori, not the other way around. Really makes me appreciate the democratic system.

****

Comments are welcome: none of the voters this section posted any comment on the fight. I should say that I wouldn't mind if you did, I'll even post any I find particularly funny.

That's all for now, see you next section.


	7. Section 2

****

IGP: Infinity Grand Prix

Section 2

The Audience honestly didn't know how to react. The arena was completely gone. In its place was a swirling multicolored vortex. The fighters were no where to be seen. Crinos' voice suddenly came over the loudspeakers.

"Don't worry folks, we've merely made a minor alteration to the fight setup. As we speak, the remaining fighters are being teleported to a random node, where they will continue the fight. Furthermore, in each section we will be transporting them to a new node to continue the fight. You, our humble audience, will continue to watch the fight on our recently installed big screens, so without further ado, lets continue the festivities.

****

The arena

The fighters abruptly came to a stop as they landed. Getting up, they were around strange surroundings. The first thing they noticed was the cold, then the fighters became aware that they were standing on a glacier, floating down a frozen river. On either side of them, large ridges of ice stood, an occasional ice bridge was occasionally passed under.

The fighters looked around, confused by their surroundings, then Lord Raptor said what everyone else was thinking.

"Where the hell are we?"

The question was directed towards Luffy. Since, being the referee, it was logical he would know what's going on. Luffy just shrugged, he was a confused as anyone.

Fortunately, The dimensional vortex could transmit sound as well as matter, so the fighters all heard Crinos' declaration. Simon and Kenshin looked at each other, and decided to take the opportunity to escape while the others were still distracted.

Fortunately for them, the other fighters would continue being distracted, as the first new fighter made his way in…

****

Uzumaki Naruto (N: NH)

As they did with Kenshin in the previous section, the anime otaku in the arena went absolutely nuts at the arrival of Naruto, unlike Kenshin, the fox possessed ninja totally ate it up, power posing and pumping his firsts into the air as he made his way down.

"Thank you! Thank you everyone! This is just one step on my way to become the next Hokage! Aint nobody gonna beat me!"

Entering the "ring", Naruto took two steps, slipped on the ice, and fell flat on his face. Gaara flung lord Raptor away and walked over to Naruto, who laughed nervously as he got up.

"Uh, hey Gaara, I meant to do that."

Gaara rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Listen, try and survive this section, I may need your help for this Naraku guy in the next section."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Who the heck is Naraku? Is he one of Orochimaru's new allies?"

"I doubt it, Ill tell you more later, we have a bigger problem right now."

****

Ganondorf Dragmire (SSBM)

Ganondorf, not to be outdone in the showing off department, rode his black steed down the ramp to the arena, then leapt off, sailing high into the air and into the ring. As he did, an entire section of Gerudo spectators cheered, a few even taking off their tops in salute to their leader. Once in the ring, he delivered a punch to Naruto's face, sending the young Genin sailing.

"Hey!" Naruto got up, rubbing his face. "What was that for?" 

Ganondorf cracked his knuckles and walked forward. "You're a young do gooder with a big mouth and a lot of spunk. I hate people like that. I'll see you don't last five minutes, never mind the whole section."

Naruto just smiled. "Kage bushin no jutsu!"

Several puffs of smoke later, Ganondorf was surrounded by 15 Naruto's, all smiling. The Gerudo king blinked.

Gaara shrugged, seeing his ally had things under control, and went to pick a fight with Lord Raptor.

****

IGP gym

"Hurricane Mixer!"

Buffaloman sent the training dummy flying into the air again, splinters of wood and cloth came down. The legendary Chojin stretched his neck and sat down on a nearby bench, popping open a protein drink. It had been a lucky break for the Galactic wrestlers to get a chance to fight in this tournament, and Buffaloman wanted to be in peak fighting shape for his turn next section.

Suddenly Buffaloman got a chill, a cold feeling he had not experienced in a long time, a chill that was sickeningly familiar.

Buffaloman leapt to his feet and looked around, "I know you are here! Where are you?"

Blackheart climbed out of a nearby shadow and loomed over Buffaloman, the Chojin hid his fear well, but not well enough.

"No! I have already suffered the devil's punishment! What do you want from me?"

"I'm not here for that. I'm here to make a deal."

"Never!" Buffaloman slammed his fist against the wall, putting a hole through it. "I once sold my blood and soul to the devil for power, I wont do it again. NEVER AGAIN!"

"I'm not interested in your blood or your soul," Blackheart spat. "I want only a magic jewel in the ownership of another demon."

"Then get it yourself! Buffaloman charged Blackheart. The demon easily dodged the attack, sinking into the floor and rising behind him. "I will never surrender my will to you or any other demon ever again!"

"So be it." Blackheart hissed, "If you will not help me willingly, then I will beat you down like a dog until you do!"

****

IGP Arena

Shampoo (R1/2HB)

Shampoo quiet literally busted through the back door into the arena, waving to the audience as she made her way down to the vortex. Jam, who was sitting in the eliminated seating, kicked Warhead out of his adjacent seat in frustration. All in all, the Chinese amazon wore a face of unstoppable confidence.

Until she stepped into the ring and saw the type of ring she was in.

"Aiya! No one tell Shampoo there be so much water and ice here! Shampoo better be careful."

With that, Shampoo flipped over to Chang Kohen and delivered several jabs to the massive Korean's belly. Chang grunted and swung his iron ball, missing entirely.

****

Warsman (GWFUM) 

A tense silence came over the ring as Warsman took to the ring. The black clad cyborg had a history of brutality in and out of the ring, and no one in the arena wanted to tempt fate by drawing the Galactic Wrestlers ire.

Entering the arena, Warsman checked his internal computer. Taking into account the cold temperature of the arena, Warsman estimated he had a slight extension to his normal thirty-minute time limit, raising it to an even hour.

'Not enough to win the tournament sadly,' The robotic Chojin mused bitterly, 'Not even long enough to last two sections, but long enough to clear out a few fighters for Robin and Kevin to take the win."

Warsman's otherwise featureless face took on a sinister leer as the robot approached the Naruto/Ganondorf fight. His scanners told him the young ninja was the most logical target, so he would be attacked first.

****

IGP City: restaurant district

"Ma'am, are you going to order or not?"

Leona looked up from the donut display to the clerk, who was tapping her finger impatiently on the counter. The young Ikari warrior smiled sheepishly, she had been sent out by Heidern to get breakfast, and she had invariably wasted half the morning trying to choose which donut to get.

"Um, just give me one of each, fighters eat free right?"

The clerk nodded and served the Ikari warrior. Leona left the donut shop with a huge bag of donuts cradled in her arms. Satisfied, she headed back to the hotel.

She didn't get a block away before she noticed someone was following her.

"Well look who we have her Mature."

Leona's blood went cold. She knew that voice.

"Heidern has her working as a gofer now? How pathetic."

Leona turned around to see Mature and Vice, slinking out of a nearby alley like a pair of stray cats.

"What do you two bitches want?" Leona spat through gritted teeth as she dropped her donuts and took a fighting stance.

"Oh the same old same old." Mature purred as she and Vice began to circle the Ikari warrior. "Just another Orochi take over the world plot, your gonna help too."

"Like hell I will." Leona lashed out at Mature, who leapt out of the way. Vice delivered a sweeping kick from behind, sending the Ikari warrior on her back.

"Now don't be that way sweetie!" Vice purred as she leaned over, "Just come with us, and we can have an good old fashioned killing spree. Remember how much fun that can be?"

"I'd rather not." Leona leapt to her feet and swung at Vice, who dodged back. Mature was about to dig into Leona from behind when a gunshot rang out. The three Orochi maidens turned to see Vash the stampede standing there.

"Well now ladies, you know you shouldn't be fighting outside the ring. Why don't we break this up and I won't have to get rough."

Leona noticed the new entrant had distracted Mature and Vice, and took the opportunity to get out from between the Orochi witches. Dashing back she got next to Vash.

Mature and Vice did not look phased by this new development. They merely looked at one another and smiled.

"Well now." Mature said as she began to approach, Vice in tow, "Now things are getting interesting."

****

The Arena

Sie Kensou (KOF 2k1)

Sie, in short, felt lousy. Ever since the Red Aremeer's attack yesterday Athena had been very quiet and distant. She refused to talk about what was wrong, and had even resorted to locking herself in her room.

What was even worse was that Sie had blown his big chance to impress Athena by being heroic! That made Sie mad; At the Aremeer for tormenting Athena, at Kyo for stealing his spotlight, and at himself for being such a bonehead.

Entering the ring, Sie saw a purple haired woman that looked vaguely like Athena, fighting with Chang Kohen. Sie ran over and sent the giant Korean down with a leg sweep. He then took his place besides Shampoo.

Shampoo looked on the Psycho soldier with suspicion, "Why you help Shampoo meat bun boy?"

"Meat bun boy?" Sie looked down and saw he had forgotten about his pre fight meat bun. Eating it, the Psycho soldier dropped into the appropriate fighting stance, then addressed Shampoo in his native language Chinese.

"Chinese fighters stick together, besides, you remind me of someone I know."

Shampoo blinked, then replied in Chinese as well, "Glad to meet someone who can speak Chinese. Talking in Japanese is such a pain!"

"I can teach you later if you want, LOOK OUT!"

Shampoo narrowly dodged Chang's Iron ball with a back flip. The two Chinese warriors began to back away from the enraged giant.

"He's unstoppable!" Shampoo said, ducking another Iron ball swing.

"No he Isn't, I've fought this lummox before, let me show you how stoppable this guy really is."

****

Tyson Granger (DMTV:WF)

The booing was nearly deafening as the blade breakers team captain made his way down to the ring, holding up his signature weapon.

"Yahoo! I've conquered the Beyblade circuit, now I'll conquer the martial arts circuit! I'm the greatest!"

****

WHUMP

A basketball flew from the arena stands and struck Tyson in the face. Sending the world fighter stumbling into the dimensional vortex. Lucky Glauber, the balls owner, took a well deserved standing ovation.

In the arena, Simon Belmont and Kenshin halted their fight against Morrigan and Faust as Tyson fell down between them.

"Ow! Who threw that?" Tyson looked around, then saw Simon. "Hey Simon! Been a while hasn't it?"

Kenshin, Faust and Morrigan all stared at the boy then at Simon, "You know each other?" was their collective response.

Simon furrowed his brow, "We both appeared on this weird TV charity tournament thing a while back. Don't ask, please don't ask."

The other three fighters considered the reply, found it acceptable, and resumed their battle. Tyson decided to stick close to Simon, just in case.

"Say Simon." Kenshin asked.

"Yeah?"

"What's TV?"

Simon shrugged, "Don't know, that's just what the people who sent the fight invitation told me the fight was about, I don't ask questions when I can get out of it."

"Oh, alright."

****

Eliminated seating

"I can't take this anymore!"

Remy stood up from his seat then smashed it with a kick, sending splinters flying.

"Hey do you mind?" Ukyo exclaimed, holding an ice pack to her throbbing head, "my head hurts enough without you helping it."

"Enough of this, I'm going to the central office and I'm gonna beat the infinity gems out of management. I can't stand this mindless violence and ego feeding any longer."

As Remy walked out the door, he bumped into Genjuro. The Samurai grunted with annoyance at the green haired Goth, who looked up at him.

"What?"

"Out of my way." Genjuro said flatly, it took all of his willpower not to say more.

Remy stepped back and took a good look at Genjuro, he didn't like what he saw.

"Oh, I see, another deluded so called "Warrior." Sorry, I don't step aside for your kind. I go through them."

Genjuro said not a word, he just drew his sword and swung at the street fighter, who dodged back.

"You misunderstand the situation loser." Genjuro raised his sword and smiled, "It is I who goes through you."

Remy smiled, this new guy looked kinda like the one who eliminated him, so it would be a good way to vent.

Ukyo watched, her head throbbing, she didn't think she knew either fighter, but she had the vaguest feeling that the outcome of their quarrel would affect her in some way.

****

IGP city: Entertainment district

Ryuji Yamakazi was laughing his ass off, he had never seen anything as funny in his off.

People all around gave the psychopathic mercenary dirty looks as he left the Movie Theater. Billy Kane, who had accompanied him, tried his hardest to look like they weren't traveling together.

"Jeez Yamakazi, did you have to laugh so loud?" Billy Kane said.

"I couldn't help it, it was so damn hilarious." Yamakazi replied.

Billy balked, "Yamakazi, I don't think Mel Gibson's the Passion of the Christ was supposed to be funny."

"You just didn't get it." Yamakazi said. He took a few more steps then stopped.

"Actually, I think its you…" Yamakazi placed his hand over Billy's mouth. "Were not alone."

Billy and Yamakazi turned around to see Yashiro, Shermie, and Chris standing behind him.

"Mr. Yamakazi," Yashiro said, stepping forward, "Leopold Goentiz requests your presence in his room."

Yamakazi gave his trademark maniac leer. "Make me."

Billy pulled out his quarterstaff, "Correction: make us."

A crowd of spectators began to form around the group, the three heavenly kings looked at each other and gulped. Something told them today was going to be a long day.

****

IGP ARENA

Grox (WG)

"War Gods suck! War gods suck! War gods suck!"

The giant humanoid turtle with a weight problem lumbered out to the appropriate chanting. Ignoring the jeers, the giant entered the ring determined to prove his kind did not suck.

Unfortunately, the ring was currently an iceberg in the middle of a frozen river, something that didn't bode well for a giant half naked turtle.

As Grox shivered, Tyson noticed his presence, and started to make his way over. The Beyblader had heard about the war gods and their penchant to suck, an opportunity that Tyson reasoned he wouldn't get again.

****

Wormmon (DRA)

Laughter abounded as the first representative of the Digimon rumble arena node made its way down to the ring. Accompanied by his human partner Ken, Wormmon was a tiny green caterpillar like creature. By far the smallest creature that had entered the ring thus far. In the eliminated seating, Yoshi and Choi felt tall for the first time in their lives.

Wormmon couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged by the jeering, but his partner Ken's warm smile dispelled his worries. Especially when he held up his glowing Digivice and gave a sly wink to the tiny Digimon.

"Wormmon Digivolve too…. STINGMON!"

The laughter quickly died as the tiny worm transformed into a seven-foot tall humanoid insect. Picking up his partner, Stingmon flew into the ring and hovered in the air, looking for a potential opponent.

A potential opponent found him as Grox hoisted a semi conscious Tyson into the air and threw it at Stingmon. The insect Digimon dodged the attack and made a dive bomb at the war god. Tyson landed on the side of a rotted ship hull frozen into the ice and rolled away.

****

IGP hotel, room 101

Matt and his Digimon partner Gabumon watched as Stingmon lay into Grox with some amusement.

"I don't think he should have digivolved right away, do you Gabumon?" Matt asked as he turned his own Digivice around in his hand, the fur covered Digimon just shrugged.

The conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door, Matt got up and smiled. Gabumon was in the next section, and Matt's girlfriend (and fellow Digidestined) Sora had promised to visit and wish him luck before hand.

Matt was very much surprised when he opened a door and found a zombie in rotting plate mail armor instead. Gabumon, sensing danger, rushed to his partner's side. The Zombie raised a hand.

"Hold thy beast at bay monster handler, I be not here to fight."

Matt raised his eyebrow, yesterday he would have freaked out at this site. But since he had arrived at this tournament he had seen everything from mummies to aliens, so a zombie didn't phase him. "Who are you?"

"I am Sir Dregan, of the covenant of seven. I have been sent by my lord Asmodeus to solicit thy services."

Matt blinked, "Okay, well, I'm sorry, but I usually don't take job offers from zombies. Thanks though."

Matt was about to close the door, when Dregan held up something that mad Matt's blood run cold: A Digivice.

"Where did you get that?" Matt said, still shocked by the sight.

"A young maiden accompanied by a pink bird, another monster handler methinks, and one close to thy heart yes?"

Matt clenched his fist, and Gabumon glared at the zombie. "If you've hurt her…"

"We have not, and we shall not, provided thou be a good boy and do as thou art ordered."

Matt let out a heavy sigh, he knew when he was beaten. "What do you want?"

"Your beast fights in the third section of this tournament. In this same round is a demon named Naraku. He possesses a gem known as the Shikon Jewel, which my master requires. Fetch it, by any means necessary. Then deliver it to us. Succeed and the maiden and her pet will be returned to thee unharmed. Fail and she will suffer greatly before her demise."

Matt nodded solemnly. "I understand. Ill do it."

"Good." Sir Dregan began to walk away, then turned back.

"One more thing, it would be wise to keep thy fellow monster handlers and security out of the loop in this affair, otherwise I can't guarantee the ladies safety."

Dregan was surprised when a very large blue wolf knocked him to the ground and pinned him. Matt walked over and motioned Garurumon off sir Dregan.

"If you harm a hair on her head. Then I can't guarantee your safety either. Now go, and tell your boss Ill get his gem."

Dregan rose and took off, deciding not to tempt fate any longer. Matt sighed and returned to his room, collapsing on his bed in deep thought.

****

IGP Security office

Nicholas D Wolfwood yawned as he watched the monitors. Everything was calm as far as he knew; Vash was getting donuts, Knives was getting grilled by Crinos for blowing up the Mars people mother ship, and Legato was in the cafeteria (Thank god!). Which meant Wolfwood was all alone.

"Can I come in Mr. Wolfwood?"

Well, almost alone.

Wolfwood turned to see Millie Thompson standing in the doorway. Wolfwood smiled and motioned her in.

"Hey Millie, how ya been?"

Millie smiled and sat down across from Wolfwood. "Oh I've been fine Mr. Wolfwood, me and Millie and Mr. Vash and Mr. Knives have been traveling around and repairing the damage Mr. Knives have been causing." Wolfwood could tell Millie was uncomfortable, but kept quiet. "So how was heaven Mr. Wolfwood?"

Wolfwood shrugged. "I wouldn't know."

Millie looked confused "But you died Mr. Wolfwood didn't you? Doesn't that mean you would have gone too…" the look on Millie's face told Wolfwood she had gotten it. The Insurance agent looked away in embarrassment, "Oh, I'm sorry."

Wolfwood smiled, "It's okay, you didn't know. Not your fault anyway. Besides Hell's not so bad. Worst thing about it is I have legato as a roommate, and you know how he can be. Especially the way he winds about not being and oblivion and…"

Before Wolfwood could finish he found Millie hugging him tightly, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry Mr. Wolfwood, I really am, I just thought I'd never see you again. I missed you so much."

Wolfwood sighed and patted Millie's back as she cried. Suddenly he noticed a blinking read light on the monitor.

"Huh, what do you make of that." Wolfwood broke Millie's hold and went over to the monitor. On it he saw a armored man, a man in a hood, and a woman in an armored Bikini walking through the hotel halls, the hooded man carrying a young girl and a pink bird on his shoulder.

Millie looked over Wolfwood's shoulder. "Think they're taking her to the medical ward?"

"No, I recognize the guy in the armor from last night. This is a good old fashioned kidnapping."

Wolfwood got up and grabbed his punisher cross, then turned to Millie. "Stick tight, I'll be right back."

"No way Mr. Wolfwood, I'm coming with you." Millie stood up and shouldered her stun gun.

Wolfwood shook his head, "Millie it's dangerous, these guys work for demons and…"

"Please!" Millie said, tears streaming down her face. "The last time you left like this you didn't come back. I've gotten stronger, I can help. Please…."

Wolfwood sighed, then smiled. "Alright, come on."

****

IGP Hotel, hallway

"Why can't Dregan carry the little brat? I'm getting tired!"

Lord Deimos snarled under his breath at the Executioner's whining. Taria, who was traveling close behind, didn't comment. The female monster trainer had been easy to ambush and capture and they were currently in the process of taking their hostage back. But that didn't make the Executioner's unwarranted whining any more palatable.

"I told you, Dregan is delivering our ultimatum to the monster trainer, we are taking the girl back to our base." Lord Deimos turned to the Executioner, "And you're the biggest, so you carry the girl. And if you keep whining Ill gut you like a trout."

The Executioner drew his axe with one hand. "Try it. We aren't in Bavaria, and you don't have Asmodeus here to protect you, and I can take you with one hand behind my back."

"Cool it you two." Taria stepped between the quarreling duo, "We have company."

Deimos and the Executioner turned to see Wolfwood and Millie standing in the hall in front of them. Millie had her stun gun drawn on the Executioner, while Wolfwood pointed his punisher cross on Lord Deimos.

Wolfwood smiled, "You wouldn't happen to be escorting her to medical would you?"

Lord Deimos looked the preacher up and down and laughed. "Ah yes, you're the security guard from last night. Blackheart warned us to avoid security."

"Guess you failed then." Wolfwood cocked his weapon. Deimos drew his sword in response.

"Not at all, we merely need to kill you before you tell anyone. Executioner?"

Executioner nodded and dropped Sora, then walked over to the side of Deimos. Behind them, Taria picked up the unconcious Sora and Biyomon and ran in the opposite direction.

"Where is she heading?" Wolfwood asked.

Deimos rested his sword point in the palm of his hand. "Now I can't tell you that, its professional curtseys. You want that info, you and your girlfriend will have to beat us."

"Then we'll just have to beat you." Millie said, her trigger finger was itching.

"Ha! Don't make us laugh!" The Executioner twirled his axe, "You blokes don't stand a chance against us. Prepare for a lesson in pain."

****

The Arena

Demitri Maximov (SVC chaos)

The lights dimmed as majestic organ music began to pick up, signaling the entry of Demitri Maximov. The vampire entered by horse drawn carriage, stepping out at ringside and into the ring.

Kenshin, Simon Belmont, and Morrigan all stopped there fighting as the Vampire entered the ring.

"Maximov!" Was their collective reply, followed by a collective "You know Maximov?"

"Were trying to stop him from kidnapping someone." Kenshin explained, Simon nodded in agreement.

"He's an old enemy of my family, plus he's responsible for my father's current illness."

Kenshin smiled, "This one believes we have a common cause then."

Faust placed his hand on his chin in consideration, "Yes, they do say adversity makes strange bedfellows, or to be less esoteric, the enemy of my enemy is my friend as it were."

Morrigan shrugged, "If you're after Maximov, your friends of mine, lets get him."

Simon Belmont grumbled. "I don't like working with a Succubae and a proven psychopath, but in this situation I cant afford to be picky." Belmont turned to Kenshin, "Incidentally, who is Maximov's target? Do you know?"

Kenshin shrugged, "I'm not entirely certain I'm afraid."

"I have a pretty good idea." Morrigan pointed at Maximov, who was currently tearing into Shampoo and Sie Kensou from behind. Chang Kohen, bored with the fight, abandoned it to pick a fight with some of the Naruto clones.

Kenshin, Belmont, Faust and Morrigan looked at each other, shrugged, then charged at Maximov full steam.

****

Jack (PS2)

The second maverick fighter of the tournament, Jack from power stones, staggered down towards the ring, lashing out at random audience members with his blades. In the central office, Washuu noticed the mummified psycho had three glowing gems stashed in his breast pocket.

"Hey, are those…"

"Yep." Crinos nodded, "They sure are."

"Should I?"

"No, In fact make sure they can't leave the ring once they're brought in. It will make things fun."

Washuu stared at Crinos like he was talking in a foreign language. Then shrugged and complied with her bosses demands. Crinos smiled.

****

IGP Arena women's locker room

"Blades?"

"Check."

"Bombs?"

"Check."

"Bonsai tree's?"

"I don't see why I need them but yeah, check."

Lei lei smiled to her Kyong shi sister Hsien Ko as she put down her checklist. It had taken all morning but they were ready to go next section. "We've got everything ready for our turn in the ring, lets head out to the green room."

Hsien Ko smiled as her sister transmuted into a paper talisman and attached to her forehead. "Think we will do alright?"

Lei Lei smiled, "Hopefully. Let's wait and see."

Hsien Ko was surprised when she opened the door and found Jedah Dohma standing before her. The evil demon smiled and waved.

"Hi ladies."

Hsien Ko didn't respond in any reasonable manner, she simply screamed inarticulately and charged forward. Jedah smiled as he parried the ghost's attacks.

'Ah yes,' the demon thought to himself, 'all according to plan.'

****

IGP hotel

Princess Peach entered the hotel, her face a shade of bright red from embarrassment. She prayed she could get to her room before anyone she knew, or for that matter anyone at all, could see her.

Unfortunately she didn't even reach the elevator before Ignitnot and Err, carrying a microphone and a camera, spotted her.

"Look Err it is the princess who was eliminated in section one."

"Damn that was cool."

"Indeed, Hot girl on girl action."

"Let's go interview her."

"Lets indeed, and see if she will give us any."

And so the Mooninites gave chase, unawares of the world of hurt they were about to be subjected to.

****

The Arena

Mauru (WW7)

The crowd stared in confusion as the third fighter from the Waku Waku 7 node took to the ring. A lot of the fighters so far were strange, but a giant purple cat like creature with a little girl clinging to its back went past strange and right into surreal.

As soon as Mauru got into the ring, the two Waku gems in Gaara's sand gourd began to pulse, and Gaara got a strange buzz. The sand ninja pushed away Lord Raptor and Jack with his sand and made a beeline for the giant beast and the little girl. Mauru, also under the influence of his gem, took similar action.

****

Elena (SF3: 3s)

Elena danced merrily down towards the ring, trying to keep in synch with the beat in her head. She was near giddiness at the whole concept of this tournament, and was determined to make as many new friends as possible.

Entering the "ring", Elena nearly tripped on the ice, but managed to stay afoot. Looking around, she saw an adorable purple monster pummeling on a little boy with no eyebrows. Surely one of them would be my friend, she thought as she danced over. Unaware of the danger she was about to be in.

And the final fighter of this section…

****

Chipp Zanuff (GGXX)

Chipp entered the arena not through the runway, but from high in the rafters. The gaijin ninja leapt from the dome ceiling and dove into the dimensional vortex. Landing, he promptly took out half the Naruto clones harassing Ganondorf with a well-placed Alpha blade.

"Hey!" The real Naruto turned away from Ganondorf to Chipp, "What's the big idea?"

"You're a ninja, I'm a ninja." Chipp fell into a fighting stance. "Forget this warlock scrub and take me on."

Naruto smiled, "Alright, Ill show you the strength that will make me the champion of my village someday. Don't expect me to go easy on you though."

Chipp smiled back, "Don't worry, I wont give you any mercy, even if you beg."

"I never beg, aint my style."

"Not mine either."

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Ganondorf roared as he punched Naruto in the back of the head, sending him flying into Zanuff and knocking them both down. "Goddesses, I hate young people."

Naruto and Chipp got up, glared at Ganondorf then at each other, then shook hands and began to approach him. The evil smash brother sneered and cracked his knuckles, ready for a fight.

What Ganondorf knew that the ninja's didn't know was that Warsman was behind Naruto, ready to grab him. Before attacking, the fighting computer checked his internal clock: 45 minutes to go and counting…

****

The multiverse is the ring…

The prize is ultimate power…

And what the heck is up with all these sub fights?


	8. Section 2 results

****

The Infinity Grand Prix

Section 2 results

IGP Central office

Ring Ring click

"Hello mom… No mother I cant come and see you today… well I've been hired to act as the defense attorney for a interdimensional fight promoter…. Yes I know it sounds far fetched… Look mom he wants to see me now so Ill talk to you later…. Yes I know… I'll tell the nurses to stop changing your medication…. Love ya, goodbye."

Gary Andrews put away his cell phone and looked at his watch. He had been sitting outside the office for a good twenty minutes, he heard yelling inside, and assumed it was taking so long because someone was getting the business.

As it turns out, someone was.

"You are damn lucky Knives. DAMN lucky I need you and that goody two shoes brother of yours. Otherwise I'd have you both frozen in carbonite! Now get out of my site before I change my mind about the Carbonite." Crinos slammed his fist on his armrest to emphasize his rage. Knives merely snorted with contempt, got up and left. Washuu just smiled and nodded.

"Was that really necessary? Technically we were in the right by blowing up the Mars people ship. They were encroaching on our air space with intent to harm."

Crinos sighed and slumped back in his chair, "I know we were, but the leader of those Martians was a guest here, trouble making or not we can't go around euthanizing anyone we please. What Knives did back there might have caused a interplanetary incident. And once you get past Vash, Knives, and you, we really have nothing to defend ourselves if the Mars People decide to come back in force."

"Besides," Crinos said as he picked up his phone, "Whenever Knives kills someone it makes Vash that much more difficult to deal with."

Washuu nodded, then remembered something. "Speaking of difficult, the lawyer is here."

"Is he evil?" Crinos asked.

"The evilest, come on in Mr. Andrews."

Gary entered the room and sat down across from Crinos, a smug smirk on his face. Crinos blinked a few times.

"You're a giant rat."

Gary the Rat shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Um, yes, yes I am. Will that a problem?"

Crinos shrugged, "No, not really. Where I come from the lawyers are usually demons with wolf heads. You any good?"

Gary smiled, "Looking like this I talked my way into Pamela Anderson's bedroom."

Crinos looked at Washuu.

"He's hired."

****

IGP Arena

Tyson Granger got up, his head throbbing. The last thing he remembered he had been sent flying by a giant green turtle monster and crashed into a giant bug man. At first he thought he was dreaming, but when he looked around he realized things were quite real.

Meanwhile, Grox was in the process of bear hugging Stingmon, attempting to crush the insect Digimon like a paper cup. Close by, Ken looked on with genuine concern.

"That your monster?" Tyson asked as he walked over, trying his best not to slip.

Ken looked over at the new boy, "Why yes he is, but he's not a monster, he's a Digimon, a digital monster."

Tyson shrugged and smiled, "I guess its okay, but its got nothing on my Dragoon."

Ken looked at Tyson, then looked around. "Uh, there's no one else here."

Tyson looked at Ken like he was talking in a foreign language, "Of course not, why would there be?"

"Well where is this Dragoon?"

Tyson finally got the drift, and produced his blade launcher. "Here she is, try not to get too jealous."

Ken looked at it for a second, stifling the urge to laugh. "That's it? A top?"

Tyson turned beat red, "It's a Beyblade! Not a top!"

Ken smiled, "Sorry, what's it do?"

Tyson smiled again and took aim, "Watch this, LET IT RIIIIIP!"

Ken stood back, expecting an act of flatulence. the actual result was much worse, as Tyson let fly his Beyblade, which spun around rapidly, eventually forming into a tornado which spun towards the wrestling monsters, knocking them into the air.

Stingmon normally would have had the advantage now that he was aerial, but he unfortunately picked that particular time to de Digivolve back into Wormmon. Ken watched in horror as the little caterpillar was pitched around by the tornado. Eventually being deposited at the foot of the last person a tiny caterpillar like creature wanted to be…

Chang Kohen bent over and looked at the tiny worm Digimon, drooling visibly.

"Hello there little worm, GIT IN MAH BELLY!"

Wormmon stared in horror and closed his eyes, preparing for the worst. Luckily for him Grox fell immediately afterwards, and landed on Chang.

Tyson found this funny as hell, and laughed as his top returned to his hand. "You see that? I bagged three in one attack! A personal best!"

Ken said nothing, but took a few steps back. Tyson took this the wrong way.

"What's the matter? Upset I whooped your little worm?"

Ken shook his head, "A little, but I'm not the petty type, not anymore anyway. I just didn't want to get caught in the crossfire."

Tyson raised an eyebrow, "Crossfire?"

It was at this point that Tyson noticed that two shadows that were overlapping him, looking up he saw Grox and Chang looming over him. They did not look happy.

Tyson, being Tyson, was far too stupid and arrogant to be afraid of the duo, and leveled his Beyblade.

"So you want some more huh? Well then LET IT…"

Before he could finish Chang reached out and grabbed the Beyblade, launcher and all, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it.

Tyson was too shocked to respond. Chang and Grox just looked at each other and smiled.

The two giants took off in opposite directions, running as fast as they could without slipping or bumping into the other fighters. Once they had gotten a far enough distance they started running towards Tyson, then at the last second turned away, sliding the rest of the way on the ice.

Tyson could have dodged, but what was the point? He was now weaponless, the Beyblade that had made him a world champion was digesting in a fat man's stomach, nothing could be worse.

Tyson soon found out how mistaken he was.

Chang and Grox slammed into one another ass first, with such force as to shake the entire arena. Tyson had the extreme displeasure of being the meat in a press ham sandwich. It only got worse from there.

Grox and Chang looked at each other, and winked wickedly. The other fighters, who paused to watch the spectacle, took a few steps back, anticipating the worst.

"Alright green guy, LET IT RIP!"

The worst was nothing compared to this.

The smell would be talked about for years to come. The ice around the trio melted, creating small pools of ice cold water. The other fighters gagged uncontrollably, even Warsman (who logically shouldn't have been able to smell, being a machine and all.). Chang and Grox peeled there asses away and let the newly funked Tyson fall to the ground. Chang and Grox looked at each other and each lifted a hand.

"Evens"

"Graah"

"SHOOT!"

The pair came up with a four. Chang merrily picked up the prone Tyson and pitched him into the water. Not that it was necessary at this point of course, but a clear victor in this case was needed since it was a double team.

Grox didn't feel too bad about losing the elimination, but that didn't stop him from smashing Chang upside the head with a right hook. Chang responded in kind, and soon a brawl was breaking out.

While on the subject of cocky fools getting their comeuppance, we now turn to one Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto had made the classic rookie error of not watching his back in a royal rumble, and Warsman was making him pay for it. One minute he was trading blows with Ganondorf of the enchanted thieves along with Chip Zanuff, and the next he was struggling against Warsman's specialty hold, the Paro special.

"Let me go you weirdo!" Naruto shouted as he struggled to free his arms and legs from the galactic wrestler's grip, Warsman's only reply was a heavy mechanical breathing.

Warsman checked his internal clock, taking into account his latest upgrades along with the cold weather, he had about 40 more minutes of fight time. This boy would only take another fifteen seconds, then Warsman would wrench the arms from his sockets.

"Hey handsome!"

Warsman looked down to see he wasn't holding Naruto anymore, but instead holding a naked woman. This shocked the Chojin so much his grip on the Paro special slacked, allowing Naruto to wriggle free.

"Hah!" Naruto boasted as he changed back to his proper form. "That was the Ninja Centerfold! There is no stronger technique in the entire world. Even our former Hokage would be powerless against such an attack!"

"Double claw Screwdriver!"

Naruto made the second classic rookie blunder of boasting before defeating his opponent, and paid for it with a pair of diamond tipped claws through his chest. Bleeding internally, Naruto began to call upon the Chakra of the nine tails fox to heal himself.

Sadly, he would never get the chance. Warsman could see the boys power level rising, and wasn't about to let him get the opportunity to attack again. With one swift kick, Naruto was punting off the iceberg and into the water, were he was eliminated.

Warsman lifted his hand in triumph, only to get knocked down by a well placed Beta blade, courtesy of Chip Zanuff.

"That was for Naruto you metal freak!"

Ganondorf, cut up from Chipp's relentless onslaught of Alpha blades, decided to employ classic villain strategy, and run to fight another day.

****

IGP GYM

"HURRICANE MIXER!"

"Oh please."

Buffaloman charged Blackheart for the fifteenth time, and for the fifteenth time he missed. Blackheart groaned.

The fight had been more or less the same since it started. Buffaloman would charge at Blackheart. Blackheart would melt into the floor, come up behind Buffaloman, hit him with a dark thunder or Inferno, then the whole thing would start all over again. The only thing Buffaloman had managed to do any damage to was the training equipment, and one of his own horns by accident.

"I grow weary of this exercise in futility." Blackheart said, melting under another Hurricane Mixer. Rising up, he tilted his head back, and quite literally sneezed out a cloud of tiny green demons, which held Buffaloman tight.

"Gah! Release me!" the galactic wrestler struggled impotently against the tiny beasts but to no avail. Calmly, slowly, Blackheart walked over.

"If you will not serve willingly, then be my pawn." The demon lord hissed as he drove his clawed hand into Buffaloman's chest, infusing him with dark energy. The Chojin's screams could be heard all throughout the halls.

When Blackheart was done, Buffaloman was no more. In his place was Buffalo Rampage; a mindless killing machine, Blackheart's symbol adorned Rampage's body, even his shadow looked like the dark lord.

"You understand your order?"

Buffalo Rampage nodded, a maniacal grin on his face.

"Good. No go to the green room and wait for your turn. Bring me the Shikon jewel by any cost. And trample all who get in your way."

Buffalo Rampage nodded again and crashed through a nearby wall, lumbering towards the green room. Blackheart chuckled at his own handiwork and vanished into the woodwork.

****

The ring

"Hi! Want to be friends?"

Gaara didn't pay attention to Elena as he fended off Mauru's attacks with his sand. The giant purple fur bag was strong enough to punch holes in Gaara's sand shield, and the young sand Genin had a feeling he was just warming up.

Elena was persistent though, she was determined to make friends at this tournament, and she got a feeling that this creepy eye browless kid needed friends more than anyone.

"Hello? Didn't you hear me? I asked if you wanted to be friends?"

Gaara looked at the strange half naked African princess and sighed, some people couldn't take a hint. Summoning his Chakra, Gaara created a large Tanuki statue between him and Mauru. Mauru, not smart enough to go around or over, started pounding on the statue to no avail, Gaara approached Elena and gave her a quizzical look.

"Why do you want to be my friend? We don't even know each other."

Elena smiled cheerily and laughed, "That's the point of tournaments like this, fighters get together, have a friendly fight, then get to know each other, soon were all the bestest friends."

Gaara just starred at Elena, She reminded Gaara of Naruto, but even more energetic and friendly. Gaara just shook his head in disbelief.

"Alright, Ill be your friend, but I can't fight you till I finish with the creature, he has something of mine."

Elena nodded, "I understand."

Suddenly, Gaara felt it, a build up of Chakra more massive than anything he had ever felt before. Looking over, he saw Mauru, Inflated like a giant beach ball, the little girl on its back holding on for dear life.

"Oh crap." Gaara muttered as he Grabbed Elena and put up a sand shield

"Hey what the-?

"We have to get down, he's building up energy for some super attack." Gaara growled, cursing himself for letting Elena distract him. He only hoped his sand shield was up to the job of blocking whatever he was about hit them with.

As it turned out, it wasn't, not by a long shot.

Mauru belched out a gigantic green musical note. Despite its solid appearance it was actually made out of super compressed sound. The entire iceberg shook and cracked from the attack as it lurched across. Gaara and Elena were sent flying. The other fighters scrambled to get out of the way; Morrigan and Demitri took to the sky and continued their battle midair, Kenshin and Jack ducked behind the frozen ship for safety, every other fighter either leapt up to dodge it or was flattened by the sonic waves.

As everyone regained their wits from Mauru's Harahara, a loud cracking was heard as the ice began to split. Fighters scrambled to either side of the divide as one iceberg became two.

Elena shook her head as she tried to stand up. Her head still spinning from the effect of Mauru's attack. She looked over at Gaara to see if he was all right, and gasped.

Gaara was standing, but he had transformed; his right arm had transformed into a giant claw made of sand, he had also grown a giant tail made out of sand.

But worst of all was his face. The right side of Gaara's face had transformed into the face of a hideous monster, with a tooth filled jaw and a black glaring eye. Elena stared at disbelief, what had happen?

"This is just perfect." Gaara said to himself in a deep guttural voice, "Thanks to that stupid creature Shukaku is coming out. I was hoping to avoid this until the next section."

Shukaku/Gaara looked at Elena. "This is entirely your fault. If you hadn't distracted me, I would have finished that creature before he had gotten his attack off."

Elena looked down, ashamed of herself for causing this situation, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen…"

Elena looked up, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Please don't hate me! I still want to be friends with you!"

Shukaku/Gaara stepped back, startled by this statement, no one had ever acted this way after seeing him in his transformed state.

Once again, Shukaku/Gaara's distraction was Mauru's gain, the giant beast rushed forward and drove a paw into the possessed ninja's face.

Shukaku/Gaara's head tilted back from the blow, but otherwise did not budge. He glared at Mauru, who at this point was sweating bullets.

"Boo."

Mauru let out an "eep" and ran off, dropping a green gem similar to the ones held by Tessa and Dandy J as he leapt off the iceberg, taking elimination over what Gaara would to him. Shukaku/Gaara picked up the gem with his claw and looked at Elena again.

"That's twice you've distracted me. I'll be happy to be your friend, but for now try and stay out of the way. Okay?"

Elena nodded in understanding as she got up. "Okay, I'm sorry I made so much trouble, and…. LOOK OUT!"

Elena pushed Shukaku/Gaara out of the way and took a screwdriver to the stomach for her troubles, compliments of Warsman. The metal Chojin leered wickedly as he looked at the blood on his claw.

Shukaku sent the robot flying with a wave of his tail then went to Elena, who was doubled over in pain.

"D-don't worry about me, I'll be alright." Elena said as she coughed up blood, her current condition did not bode confidence in Shukaku/Gaara, but before he could do anything, a large worm like beast rose from the ice, swallowing him.

"Way to go La Malta" Lord raptor sneered as he snapped his fingers, the demon spit Shukaku/Gaara out in the form of a basketball, then took the form of a basket ball hoop.

Meanwhile, Elena began to gather he chi and focus it, as she did, a gold light surrounded her as her stomach wound closed up. Elena smiled as she got up, her injuries mostly healed.

"Ill have to thank Grandpa for showing me how to do that, now where is Gaara?"

Gaara was unfortunately already eliminated. After some fancy footwork that made Lord Raptor look like a slightly less flamboyant Dennis Rodman, the sand ninja was thrown through the hoop and then off the iceberg. Raptor cheered himself as Elena watched on.

"That wasn't very nice you know." Elena said, pointing at Lord Raptor, "You didn't even give him a chance to fight back! You won't make many friends fighting like that!"

Lord Raptor looked at Elena and laughed. "What's the matter with you? This tournament isn't about making friends! The winner of this thing is gonna become god!" Raptor snapped his fingers, summoning La Malta in the form of a chainsaw. "And I aint gonna win if I have to fight demons like Shukaku!"

"Shukaku?" Elena thought about it, Gaara had mentioned something about Shukaku after he changed. "You know what happened to Gaara?"

Raptor smiled, "I'm a retainer of house Ozom in the Makai, so I know a few things about demons. That 'Gaara' kid was actually a demon in disguise."

Elena didn't get mad very easily, she was so eager to make friends being angry was a foreign concept to her. But having someone call her new friend a monster was certainly enough to make her mad.

"Your wrong! Gaara is my friend, he's not a demon!"

Raptor laughed again, "Your so stupid, of course he is! He was never your friend."

"SHUT UP!" Elena spun around and kicked Warsman, who had been sneaking up on her with the intention of putting her in the Paro special, decapitating the cyborg and knocking him into the water. "STOP TALKING BAD ABOUT MY FRIEND!"

Lord Raptor hesitated a bit, he didn't expect the girl to be so strong when riled up, but then he remembered what he was fighting for.

"I don't know why you're so upset, I'm only saying what's the truth." Raptor held up his chainsaw, "But if you want to try and stop me, you're welcome to try."

"Ill do more than stop you!" Elena charged Raptor, launching into a flying kick.

Raptor smiled. "Right then, lets rock."

****

Restaurant section

Vice power bombed Leona onto the hard pavement, cackling madly as she did so. Leona responded by leg sweeping Vice to the ground and then jumping on top of her. As the pair wrestled on the ground, Vash watched with a goofy leer.

"Hey now ladies, you shouldn't be fighting, at least give me a chance to get a camera, or a couple buckets of mud." Vash chuckled.

Mature was slightly less thrilled, despite the fact that the red cloaked gunman was barely paying attention to her, he was stealthily evading all her blows with minimal effort.

"Grrr, hold still and take your medicine you freak!" Mature yelled, and suddenly Vash was gone.

"Now, now. You shouldn't take medicine if you're not sick." Vice felt the cold steel of a gun barrel on the back of her neck. "And you shouldn't pick fights out of the arena."

Mature shuddered, she had not seen the gunman move, but somehow he had gotten behind her AND had put a gun to her head in a few seconds.

Vash smiled, "Don't be so tense, I won't shoot you, not unless you make me. Now why don't we all make up and be friends."

"Hey Red!"

Vash looked over to see Vice with Leona in a headlock. The Ikari warrior struggled to free herself, but could not budge the Orochi assassin.

"Let my partner go and drop the piece. Or I take Leona's heads off."

Vash went pale at the threat, his grip on the gun wavered. Mature was tempted to take advantage of Vash's sudden uncertainty, but decided to wait to see what would happen, just in case.

Leona also saw Vash's uncertainty, and decided to help.

"She's bluffing Mister!" Leona yelled as she continued to struggle, "They won't kill me, they need me alive for whatever they're planning."

"SHUT UP!" Mature yelled as she drove an elbow into the Ikari warrior's side. "Goentiz may be pissed if we lose you, but there are other Orochi spawn that could easily take your place. Very easily, your expendable."

"This doesn't have to happen." Vash said calmly. "We can resolve this without anyone getting hurt."

A bullet whizzed past Vice's head. The shock of it distracted her long enough for Leona to wriggle out of her hold and roll over to Vash's position. Mature took the opportunity to make a run for her partner. The pair faced one another.

Leona looked at Vash. "Thanks, but you missed."

Vash smiled, "No, I didn't. I wasn't aiming to kill."

Mature and Vice looked at each other, then smiled.

"So our mystery hero doesn't like to kill, that's… funny." Mature purred.

"I was almost worried for a second, all that power and he's a kitten." Vice commented.

Leona took a fighting stance, "He may not kill, but neither do I, doesn't mean we won't win."

Vash twirled his gun, "This is your last warning, enough people have gotten hurt needlessly today, you can walk away right now."

Mature and Vice looked at each other, then smiled.

"Should we use them?" Vice asked?

"Yes, I believe its time to demonstrate our new trick." Mature responded.

Vash looked at Leona, "Any idea where there about to do? You seem to know these two."

Leona shrugged, "These two have always been… unpredictable. I'd be ready for anything."

Mature and Vice smiled, then spoke in unison.

"Cursed seal…"

Before they could finish though, a fifth party entered the fray. A young man with white hair and glasses, from his attire, Leona surmised he was some kind of ninja.

The newcomer smiled, "Good thing I showed up."

Mature and Vice glared at the newcomer, "We are handling it Kabuto, get lost!" The two hissed together.

"Ah, ah, ah," Kabuto shook his finger. "Orochimaru doesn't want you using the cursed seals just yet. That's why I'm here. If you cant beat these two without using them, then you've failed your mission."

Kabuto lifted his hands and began making katas. Suddenly the air around the five became filled with feathers.

"Besides, Vash was right when he said this could be ended without anyone getting hurt. He just didn't know how."

Suddenly, Leona and Vash felt a wave of lethargy overcome them. Despite their best efforts they could stay awake, and soon they, and the two Orochi assassins were out cold.

Kabuto Picked up Leona and slung her over his shoulder. Then walked over to Mature and Vice and lifted up his hands.

"KAI!"

Mature and Vice woke up, then stood up groggily. The pair glared at the smiling ninja.

"Whose a little kid now?"

Mature and Vice looked at each other, and grunted simultaneously. Then the three ran off.

It was at this point Vash opened his eyes, He had decided to play possum and let them think the ninja's spell had defeated them, now he would follow them back to their base and find out what was going on.

Vash got two steps when a large stone pillar fell from the sky and landed right on his head. Vash's last sight before falling unconcious for real was a cloaked figure standing over him, smirking.

"A thousand pardons Vash the Stampede, but I cannot allow you to interfere with the Orochi's revival. But take solace that you and the half-breed had managed to hold their own against two of the eight heads. I hope we can meet again some time."

With that, the mysterious stranger vanished into the shadows from whence he came.

****

The Arena

With the splitting of the iceberg, the frozen ship that was stuck in it also split, scattering pieces of wood and debris all over.

The ship mast, still intact for the most part, fell to Jacks feet.

Jack was insane and brain damaged, but even he knew opportunity when he saw it, and being from the Power Stone node he was a master of using improvised weapons.

Sie Kensou and Shampoo were fighting one another on the ice, trading kung fu kicks and Karate chops. Shampoo noticed the psycho soldier was not fighting at his best, but said nothing.

The reason that Sie was not fighting at his best because he was A) still thinking about Athena and B) Shampoo kinda looked like Athena.

"Meat bun boy! Look out!"

This would explain why Sie didn't notice Jack coming up behind him, ship mast in hand.

One home run swing later and Sie was out of the park and in the water. Shampoo pulled out her Bonbori's and motioned for Jack to come at her.

Before Jack could however, Morrigan Aensland fell down between the two, covered with burn marks. Demitri Maximov landed next to her, kicking her out of the way.

Jack, not bright enough to be intimidated (what IS the matter with this new generation?) swung his weapon at the Vampire. Demitri stopped the attack with his hand, smashing the mast to pieces.

"Leave us urchin." Demitri leveled a withering gaze at Jack. The bandaged freak shuddered a bit then scuttled off to stab and steal elsewhere.

Demitri smiled and turned to Shampoo, "Now that were alone my dear..."

Shampoo glared and charged in with both Bonbori's, "Shampoo not afraid of stupid swirly head vampire! Bring it on!"

Demitri groaned in annoyance as he casually blocked the young amazon's blows effortlessly, he decided that he would look into commissioning a beautician when he got home. Growing bored with Shampoo's ineffective attacks, the Vampire slapped the Bobori's from her hands and slapped her to the ground.

"Make it easy on yourself my dear, I promise I will be gentle." Demitri smiled and pulled out a rose. Shampoo rose clenched her fists and charge. Demitri threw the rose, striking Shampoo in the face.

Shampoo suddenly found herself transformed, she was dressed like a Geisha, her feet bound and her face dolled up, she was also holding a fan up to her face. Demitri bowed to her and transformed into a hug demon, lifting the dolled up Shampoo up into the air.

The amazon struggled with no use, whatever changed her appearance also changed her body, her muscles felt like mush as she struggled in vain. Shampoo's struggles slowed as she felt her energy being drained.

"Mmmm, yes." Maximov hissed, "Once I drain your energy completely, Ill infuse you with my own, and you'll be mine forever."

"Not likely bloodsucker!"

A cross shaped Boomerang came out of nowhere and struck Shampoo, knocking her from Demitri's grip and off the Iceberg, Maximov turned and glared at Kenshin Himura, Simon Belmont, and Faust, who were standing ready to fight.

"This one will not let you hurt anyone." Kenshin said, leveling his blade at Maximov.

"I will wipe your kind from the face of the earth." Simon said as he caught his boomerang and cracked his whip.

"The Doctor is in!" Faust cackled as he twirled his scalpel.

"EX Chaos flare!"

A pair of glowing fireballs struck Simon Belmont and Faust, sending them flying off of the iceberg. Kenshin gaped.

"Oro?" the shocked swordsman exclaimed.

Elena, over on the other Iceberg, looked around expecting to see someone else, when she saw the person in question wasn't around, she resumed her fight with Lord Raptor.

"You have cost me one of my brides human." Maximov snarled, shifting back into his human form, "Now you will suffer."

Demitri called up his energy and launched another Chaos flare. Kenshin stepped forward and slashed it away with his sword.

"That wont work against me, your projectiles are useless." Kenshin said calmly.

Maximov looked at Kenshin's sword, it had turned bright orange from the heat of the chaos flare. This gave Demitri an idea.

Demitri threw another Chaos flare, Kenshin ran towards, slicing through it again. Maximov managed to get out two more before Kenshin got within striking range, these met the same fate as the first.

Maximov caught Kenshin's now white hot blade with his bare hand, the undead Makai noble's flesh sizzled on contact as he wrenched the sword from Kenshin's hand and drove it into the iceberg, causing steam to rise up as the ice cracked.

Kenshin slammed his empty sword hilt into Maximov's gut, pushing him back. Kenshin the pulled his sword from the ice and swung it rapidly at the Vampire.

Maximov blocked the sword with his arm, causing it to shatter into a million pieces. Maximov smirked when he saw the look of horror on Kenshin's face.

"My chaos flares produce a heat that equals the fires of hell." Maximov explained calmly. "When you blocked it with your sword it heated it up, and when I stuck it in the ice it cooled too rapidly."

"I understand," Kenshin replied softly, looking at the sword hilt still in his hand, "That made it easier for you to break, I was being too careless."

"Glad to see your humble enough to know when your beat." Maximov pulled his fist back, "I think I'll tenderize you before having my snack."

Before he could strike, Demitri felt a tap on his back. Turning around he saw Morrigan, who wrapped her arms around Maximov and planted a kiss on his lips.

The information came to Morrigan in a flash, countless images flowing in: Four women, a young martial artist, a purple haired Samurai…

…And Pyron, the former destroyer of worlds.

Maximov swatted Morrigan away, snarling angrily.

"Aensland you damn tease. You've got a lot of nerve trying that soul sucking stuff on me."

The current matter resolved, Maximov turned to finish off Kenshin.

Only Kenshin was gone.

At the edge of the iceberg, Kenshin helped Morrigan to her feet.

Mind if this one asks why you kissed him?" Kenshin asked.

Morrigan rubbed her head, "Soul stealing. I can absorb mortal souls by kissing them. Only it doesn't work on Vampires, their souls are cemented into their bodies too well."

"Then what was the point?"

"When I take someone's soul, I gain all their memories and experiences. Even though I couldn't steal it, I did contact it enough to get the info I need."

Kenshin didn't approve of soul stealing, but he did understand Morrigan's logic, "Go on."

"There are four targets: The purple haired girl that was just eliminated, the Okonomiyaki chef from the last section, a martial artist named Akane Tendo, and an insane gymnast named Kodachi. There all connected to a young man named Ranma Saotome. Find him first and he'll find the four women."

Kenshin nodded, "I understand, what's our next move?"

"I'm going to eliminate you so you can relay this information to Belmont and Faust. Ill contact my little sister Lillith to help you."

Kenshin nodded, "I know, I'm no good to you without my sword."

"Right, about that. Find a demon named Totosai, tell him you're a retainer of the Aensland family. He'll make you a new sword."

"Alright, now about my elimination…"

Morrigan smiled, then shoved Kenshin off the edge of the iceberg.

"Well, that takes care of that. Now for Maximov."

****

Eliminated seating

Remy delivered a kick to Genjuro's face. The evil samurai shrugged it off and swung his sword, cutting Remy's leg open.

The other eliminated fighters had gathered around the scene, deciding to enjoy the little diversion and maybe get some betting in as well (Currently Genjuro was the favorite to win, and only Choi had bet on Remy.)

Remy rolled away from Genjuro, who smiled and threw some glowing Hanafuda cards. The street fighter responded by throwing light of virtues, which cut through the cards and then sliced Genjuro.

"I warned you to stay out of my way," Genjuro snarled as he charged forward, "NOW SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!"

Remy said nothing, but raised one leg towards Genjuro, The swordsman charged forward and swung.

That proved to be a mistake.

Remy parried the attack with his leg, then proceeded to kick the living crap out of Genjuro, delivering a deadly flurry of blows which drove the Samurai back.

Genjuro fell to the floor, covered in bruises, and Remy returned to his seat, ignoring the cheers of the crowd (especially Choi, who had made a lot of money off the fight.)

Then Genjuro got up, and pointed his sword at Remy.

"You! You have interfered with my mission and attacked me for no reason with your stupid kicks and kicking and silly clown shoes but you will not defeat me you pathetic loser because I am the invincible Genjuro and I refuse to lose to some pathetic pansy loser with ridiculous clown shoes and green hair so first I will kill you and then I will collect the Ukyo girl and take her back to my master…"

"Hey stupid…"

Genjuro turned to see Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo standing behind him. Behind them were Simon Belmont and Faust, who had just returned from the medical bay. They had met Ranma on the way to the eliminated seating, and had explained the situation to him. (Kenshin had also been with them, but he left to go find Lillith.)

Ranma smiled, "Who are you going to collect again?"

Genjuro growled in frustration and bolted out the door. Ranma walked over to Ukyo.

"You okay?"

Ukyo looked up, an icepack held to her head, and smiled. "Been better, you?"

Akane turned to Simon and Faust, "Thanks again for the info, we really appreciate it."

Faust smiled and rubbed the back of his head, "Hey, I'm a doctor, I help people. Its what I do."

Simon cleared his throat. "Genjuro will not be so easily dissuaded, he will try again."

Ranma nodded, "You take Ukyo back to our room, Ill wait here for Shampoo," Ranma cringed as Akane gave him a trademark dirty look, "And then we'll meet up with you later."

Faust nodded, "Ill go pick up that Kodachi girl, logically she is the next target."

The martial artists, vampire hunters, and homicidal maniacs nodded in agreement then exited the eliminated seating.

****

Sub-Basement

'Dark, always dark, always waiting, waiting for master to come, waiting for master to give commands, waiting to obey, to make master happy.'

__

Voldo….

'What was that? Was that… master?'

__

Voldo… It is I, Verrici

'The master! At last! He had come back!'

__

I have an important mission for you…

'Yes master, ready to serve, ready to obey, ready to fight, ready to kill.'

__

The Shikon jewel, bring it to me…

'Yes, Bring the Shikon Jewel, bring it to master, make master happy.'

_Bring it to me, and let nothing stand in your way._

'Nothing, let nothing stand in my way. Understood, will obey master, will get jewel for master.'

Voldo uncurled from the fetal position he had been in since he arrived in the Grand prix node, and began to stalk up through the basement towards the green room. As he did, Shuma Gorath watched on with satisfaction.

Humph, Waste of flesh. 

****

Abandoned warehouse

Kikyo stepped into the dark warehouse, as Shang Tsung had predicted, it was not hard to miss thanks to the demonic aura.

Kikyo took two steps in when a knife flew past her head. She turned to see Kano, kneeling on a crate, tossing a knife up and down in his hand.

"Now, now missy. This here's private property, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

Kikyo sighed, "I was invited here by Shang Tsung."

Kano raised his one eyebrow, "Really? Got any proof?"

Kikyo pointed next to Kano, "Ask him."

Reptile took that as his cue to materialize, the lizard man's sudden appearance surprised Kano and made him drop his knife, which nearly impaled his foot.

"Crikey! What have I told you about doing that?"

Reptile didn't speak, he simply shrugged. Kano looked at him, then at Kikyo.

"Alright, Ill buy it for now. But if Shang doesn't recognize you when he gets back, your dead meat."

Kikyo looked around, "Where is your boss anyway?"

****

Room 444, IGP hotel

"Run this by me again, you want me to what?"

Shang Tsung sat Across from Goentiz at his table, he was having breakfast as he conversed with the demon sorcerer. "I told you, I want you to remove the soul of one of the other fighters, so that the Orochi may inhabit that body and begin the purification of the multiverse."

"By which you mean the annihilation of all life in the universe." Shang Tsung stroked his chin, "Which begs the question, what's in it for me?"

Goentiz smiled, "Your prize will be Outworld, The Orochi will wipe out Shang Tsung and the other would be rulers of that realm, and allow you to rule it for a time before he destroys it."

Shang Tsung considered the proposal, "How long are we talking here?"

Goentiz shrugged, "If we start in my home world it could take centuries before he reaches Outworld, but nothing is certain, I am only a humble servant after all."

"Quite," Shang Tsung said, as he thought about it; Ruling Outworld, even for a few centuries, would make the Orochi general's offer worthwhile.

Besides, Shang Tsung reasoned, in a few hundred years he could surely come up with a way to dispel the Orochi when the time comes, if no one else manages it first.

"Alright Goentiz, you have yourself a deal." Shang Tsung got up from his seat, "Incidentally, is the Orochi picky about who his vessel is? Or what happens to the proper soul of his new body?"

Goentiz shook his head, "No, any body will do. Though one with spiritual power already is preferred. Aside from that the Orochi will make no distinction,"

Shang Tsung smiled, "Fabulous, then I have just the vessel already in mind."

As Shang Tsung exited Goentiz's room, a very angry Princess peach stormed by. Observing the hallway the Outworld wizard noticed it was covered with pink and green bricks. Shang Tsung, more pressing things on his mind, disregarded the scene and headed to the elevator.

****

IGP Hotel, ground floor

Lord Deimos walked towards Nicholas D. Wolfwood, the former Gung ho guns bullets bouncing off his armor. Raising his sword, Deimos swung at the preacher, only to have his weapon blocked by the priest's bizarre weapon.

"Give up peasant!" Deimos bellowed as he swung again, "You odd weapon is no match for the likes of me! Surrender now and I may call the executioner off your wench."

"Who are you calling a wench?"

Deimos and Wolfwood turned to see Millie, standing over the Executioner, his body covered with small x shaped bruises. Deimos put his hand over his face.

"Executioner you idiot, losing is one thing, but to a woman?"

Millie, annoyed by Deimos' chauvinistic attitude, fired a stun bolt, Deimos replied by cutting it in half.

Shang Tsung took this point to step off the elevator, seeing the trouble he ducked down another hallway and watched.

The Executioner groaned as he rose to his feet, looking over, he saw Deimos being fired upon by both sides, he also saw the annoying woman had her back to him. Pulling back his axe, he planned to chop her head off in one fluid motion.

Forunteatly, Wolfwood saw him, he knew Millie would not be able to react fast enough, so he had to do it.

"EAT THIS DEIMOS!" Wolfwood yelled as he flipped his punisher cross and fired a missile at Deimos. The dark warlord, never seeing such an odd attack before, attempted to block it with his sword, and got blown through a wall for his troubles. Wolfwood, without a moments hesitation, threw his cross in the air, having it land on the executioner, flattening him.

"So… heavy…" The masked psychopath groaned as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Wolfwood lit a cigarette and smiled as he picked up his cross, "That's because it's so full of mercy."

Shang Tsung growled at his allies' incompetence and bolted down the hallway, the last thing he needed was to be caught by security at this stage of the game.

****

Entertainment district

Yashiro and Chris fell to their knee's, groaning from the pain after getting a fist and a quarterstaff respectively driven into they're sides. Shermie backed away as Billy and Yamakazi approached.

"You know," Billy said, "Geese will be stoked if we bring him an Orochi."

"Yeah," Yamakazi agreed, kicking the prone Chris, "Think of all the money he'll give me."

Shermie considered activating her curse seal, but what was the point? Even with it she would hardly be a match for both of Geese's enforcers at once. Then she got an idea, maybe she could use Yamakazi's greed to her advantage.

"Ryuji san, our master will pay you ten times what Geese is paying you if you agree to work for us."

Back at the hotel, Goentiz suddenly got a chill, he didn't exactly know why, but he had a feeling that Shermie had just done something stupid.

Ryuji smiled as he contemplated the money. Billy Kane just stared at him.

"Don't even think about it Yamakazi, if Geese finds out…"

"Geese can suck on a pickle for all I care!" Yamakazi giggled as he snake armed Billy in the face, knocking him down. He then proceeded to kick the living crap out of Geese's enforcer; the crowd that had gathered around began to back away, fearing the gray clad psychopath.

After sufficiently pulverizing Billy, Ryuji walked over to Shermie, stepping over the still unconcious Yashiro and Chris to do so.

"So, where's your boss now?" Yamakazi gave his trademark lunatic grin.

Shermie gulped, "Uh, Room 444 at the hotel. Here's the key if you want." Shermie's hand trembled as she handed her room key over.

Yamakazi looked over the key, smiled, then sucker punched Shermie to the ground.

"Thanks doll, time to get paid!"

The crowd parted like the Red Sea as Yamakazi walked away from the fight, not noticing Billy making his way to his feet, using his cane as a crutch.

"Ryuji you fool," Billy said weakly as he too hobbled towards the hotel, "You'll regret the day you went against Geese, Ill see to it personally."

****

The arena

Grox punched Chang in the face, Chang swung his iron ball into Grox's snout, both wobbled, and neither fell.

That was pretty much the whole story between these two since their double team on Tyson in the beginning. The two giants pummeling on each other, neither one moving back an inch from the other. None of the other fighters dared to get between the two monsters.

Chang's head throbbed as he swung his iron ball. Although they were evenly matched in terms of strength, Grox, being a god, far outclassed Chang in the endurance department. Even an idiot like Chang knew he that he would fall before Grox did if this came up.

Fortunately for Chang, Jack chose that time to lend a hand.

Actually he was trying to attack Chang, but Chang accidentally beamed the little bandaged freak with his ball and chain. As Jack went sailing, the gems in his pocket came loose and fell at Chang's feet.

Chang looked down, seeing the red, yellow and blue gems. He kneeled down, (also dodging a right hook from Grox in the process) then picked up the three gems.

"Wonder what these things do?"

Chang found out in a flash, as the gems emitted a strange light, suddenly he was engulfed by the strange light and then a massive explosion.

Grox stepped back, sensing great power, and he wasn't too far off; when the smoke cleared, Chang had transformed.

He was still wearing his gray prison uniform and carrying an iron ball and chain, but that was the only thing that was the same. Chang had become… hunky! His body was all muscles, finely chiseled, he was beardless, with a full head of hair, and had a face that would make Adonis jealous.

Chang looked over his new body, and blinked.

"Fascinating." Chang blinked again, since when did he say word like 'fascinating'?

Grox decided to take advantage of Chang's confusion at the situation and attacked, swinging a left hook at the Korean love god.

Chang blocked the attack with one hand. Looking up and smiling.

"Looks like the advantage is mine now dear boy." Chang smiled, not only was he hot, he was now smart.

Smart Chang, now that name had a ring to it didn't it?

Smart Chang attacked in a flurry, Grox had no time to attack of defend from the onslaught of punches and kicks. By the time he was done, Grox looked like a pile of rancid hamburger meat.

"Sorry for the undue liquidation my obese Terrapin," Smart Chang said as he hoisted the giant turtle with one hand, "But absolute victory is my ultimate goal, and you are an obstacle in my path."

Grox, predictably enough, went into the water. In the seats the crowd was silent, the chant of "War gods suck!" absent. Partially because they were still shocked over Chang's metamorphosis from brute to beauty, and partially because Grox had done what no other War god had done: earn the respect of the crowd.

Well, most of them anyway.

"WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GODS SUCK!" Tyson granger yelled out from the eliminated seating. He got another Lucky Glauber basketball for his troubles.

****

Green room

Kim watched the antics of smart Chang with a gleam in his eye, "I'm so proud of him, his rehabilitation is finally complete."

May and Jhun looked at each other again, and sighed.

"Kim" Jhun said, "I don't think Chang is reformed, he just transformed cause of those gems he got from the freaky kid."

Kim smiled, "Nonsense Jhun! Its just my brilliant rehabilitation techniques what did it."

"Then how do you explain him changing like that in the ring after years of no visible effect?" Asked May.

Kim thought, then smiled again.

"I know! It was a delayed reaction to the training!"

Jhun and May face faulted, "A what?"

"Delayed reaction! You see, all those years of rehabilitation the rehabilitation was building up inside of him, until it finally broke through today!"

Jhun and May just looked at each other, and shook their heads.

****

The Arena

The Power stones were a marvel; they conferred their users with godlike strength and skill when used. Unfortunately, they held enough power for thirty seconds, and Chang's thirty were up.

Chang changed back into his fat oafish self as the gems flew to the far sides of the two glaciers, Chang blinked, felt his tummy rumble, and forgot about the gems altogether.

****

Green room

"Oh dear, he had a relapse." Kim said with a sigh, "Guess he needs more rehabilitation afterall."

Jhun and May just looked at Kim and shook their heads sadly.

****

The Arena

Chang's episode with the power stones did not go unnoticed. Ganondorf, who had been hiding near the wrecked ship since Mauru split the icebergs, decided to make his move.

It was actually a lucky break for the Gerudo sovereign, The red power stone had landed close by, and with most of the other fighters preoccupied with one another, Ganondorf decided to seize an opportunity.

The smash brother made a dash for the gem, nearly slipping on the ice as he did, but unfortunately someone beat him to the punch.

Just as he was about to retrieve the gem, something blurred past him, and the gem was gone. Looking up, he saw Chipp Zanuff holding the gem and smiling.

"Guess whose quicker?" The ninja taunted, Ganondorf was enraged.

Suddenly, Ganondorf looked over, and saw the blue power stone, he made a run for it.

But once again the evil wizard was too slow, this one stolen away by Wormmon and Ken. Ganondorf clenched his fists and snarled.

"Fools, I'll send you all to hell." The warlock's hands began to glow with purple energy.

"Whatever," Chipp muttered as he vanished in a swarm of leaves. He reappeared on Ganondorf's shoulders, slitting his throat before getting off. He then rushed past Ken and Wormmon. The pair turned to see Chipp standing behind them with the blue Power Stone.

"Alright Wormmon," Ken said, "Ready for another Digivolve?"

"Sure am Ken" Wormmon responded in a voice that sounded like droopy the dog.

"WORMMON DIGIVOLVE!" Ken yelled as he held up…

Nothing, his hand was empty, his Digivice gone.

"Hey kid, I think you need this in order to transform your friend."

Ken and Wormmon looked over to see Chipp was holding their Digivice in his other hand. The pair then looked at each other, then gulped, they knew this was going to hurt.

It did hurt, but not as much as they expected, one beta blade was all it took to send the pair over the iceberg and into the water. And that left just one minor detail.

"Prepare to die foolish Ninja!"

Chipp turned to see Ganondorf running at him screaming bloody murder. Chipp just chuckled, and powered up.

By the time Ganondorf had gotten to him, Chipp had split into five separate clones, all floating in mid air. Ganondorf had the poor luck of being in the middle of this formation when a flaming pentagram began to form.

One big explosion later and Ganondorf was done, very well done. Chipp did not even bother kicking him off the iceberg, no one could survive an instant kill, no one.

Chipp fell to one knee after power posing, using the instant kill may have been a bad mood, and he was totally tapped out. He looked down at the two power stones, and decided to make getting gem number three a priority.

Meanwhile, on the adjacent iceberg, Morrigan and Demitri were circling each other when the yellow Power stone landed right in Morrigan's expansive cleavage. Morrigan, having missed Chang's demonstration, figured it was just a cheap bauble and stowed it away.

****

Women's locker room

Jedah flew around the locker room cackling like a maniac, Hsien-Ko was close behind, throwing knives and axes and anything else you can imagine at the demon as she gave chase. Needless to say the entire locker room was a mess of twisted metal and discarded weapons.

"Stand still and FIGHT!" The young Jiang shi demanded as she threw a miniature statue of Akuma at Jedah, who parried it with his wing.

"So sorry," The Makai noble chortled as he suddenly stopped in mid air, letting Hsien-Ko run right beneath her, "I just needed to get into position."

Jedah came down and sat on Hsien-Ko's shoulders. Before the Jiang-shi could react, Jedah ripped Lin Lin from her forehead and replaced it with another talisman, this one with kanji written on it in blood.

All thought and memory left Hsien-Ko as she stopped moving, Jedah slipped off her shoulders as Lin Lin reverted to human form.

"What did you do to my sister you freak?" The young Dao Shi demanded, Jedah laughed.

"Oh come now, your sister is a Jiang shi isn't she? That means she's a corpse puppet that can be reprogrammed into a mindless killing machine!"

Lin Lin swallowed nervously, Jedah was right of course, but Lin Lin would never do that to her own sister.

"Don't worry," Jedah said, picking up Lin Lin and sticking her in a bubble of blood, trapping her, "I'll return your useless sister once she's done her job. If I feel like it that is!"

Jedah cackled madly as he and the brainwashed Hsien-Ko exited the locker room, leaving Lin Lin to beat against the bubble futilely.

****

The Arena

Elena spun around and kicked lord Raptor in the face, then she did a handstand and kicked him again, Raptor swung his chain saw, but Elena leapt up again, grabbed Raptor with her legs and tossed him, sending him skidding across the ice. Raptor stood up and shook it off, Elena grunted in frustration.

"You're a tough old ghoul aren't you?" Elena asked.

"Sure am love," Raptor smiled as he charge, Elena ducked the chainsaw and spun, kicking Raptors feet out from under him, Elena then kicked him again as he fell, sending him flying up.

The proved a mistake, as Raptor flew up, his legs turned into a buzz saw. Elena, not noticing this, leapt up to kick Raptor a third time.

Only to scream in pain as her leg got sawed off.

Elena fell screaming and crying, the blood pooling on the ice under her. Raptor leaned over her and smiled.

"Well then, so much for your fancy footwork, now for me to have a little fun." Raptor lifted up his chainsaw, preparing to hack off the rest of Elena's limbs.

Then the Referee stepped in, grabbing Raptor by the arm.

"That's enough," Luffy said, "You've beaten her, and the boss doesn't want anymore in ring mutilations, she'll be transported to the arena infirmary now."

Raptor pulled his hand free and pushed Luffy away. "Sod off ya gob, I'll let her go when I'm done with her when I'm good and ready."

Luffy's response was to punch Lord Raptor so friggin hard he went flying over to the next adjacent iceberg, crashing into Jack, who was currently eyeing Morrigan from behind.

Luffy smiled to the semi conscious Elena as she dematerialized, giving thumbs up.

"No one makes trouble, while the referee is on deck!

Suddenly, the fighters began to notice a strange shimmer in the air, and then suddenly the iceberg was gone, leaving the six remaining fighters tumbling to their next "Arena".

****

IGP shopping district

Alessi leaned against a wall across from the toy store, waiting for some young kid to come out by himself, so far no one did and it was making him testy.

He had wanted to beat up some little kid before he had to go into the ring in a few sections, but so far it didn't look like he'd get the chance…

…Unless of course, he made a kid for him to beat on, Alessi looked down at his shadow and smiled.

Suddenly Alessi became aware of someone standing next to him. Alessi looked over…

…And saw the devil.

Red Aremeer leaned against the wall right next to Alessi, the evil stand user considered using his powers, but decided against it. Primarily because he was too busy pissing himself to try it.

"Relax human, I'm not here for a fight." The son of Satan said, smiling. "If I was, you'd be dead already."

Alessi considered the demon warily, "Then what DO you want?"

Red Aremeer smiled again, "I am need of your unique talent, and I am willing to pay extensively for them."

Alessi nodded, "Impressive, I'm listening."

Aremeer chuckled to himself, if everything worked out he would be able finally finish what he started centuries prior.

****

Final Results

(Total votes is the collective number of "Live" votes per fighter, this section 11 people voted on the main fight, and 10 people voted on the bonus matches.)

Demitri Maximov: 7 total votes

Lord Raptor: 6 total Votes

Chipp Zanuff: 5 total Votes

Chang Kohen: 4 Total Votes

Jack: 3 total Votes

Morrigan Aensland: 2 Total Votes

****

Line of elimination

Gaara of the Desert: 2 total votes

Elena: 1 total vote

Warsman: 1 total Vote

Simon Belmont: 0 total votes

Sie Kensou: -1 total votes

Ganondorf Dragmire: -1 total votes

Grox: -1 total votes

Wormmon: -1 total votes

Kenshin Himura: -2 total votes

Faust: -2 total votes

Mauru: -2 total votes

Uzumaki Naruto: -3 total votes

Shampoo –7 total votes

Tyson Granger: -11 total votes (I honestly didn't see this coming :P)

****

Fighters who got eliminations: Demitri Maximov, Lord Raptor, Chipp Zanuff, Chang Kohen: 2, Jack, Morrigan Aensland, Gaara of the Desert, Elena, Warsman and Simon Belmont: 1

Current elimination leaders: Lord Raptor, Chang Kohen and Simon belmont with 3 eliminations each

Bonus Matches:

****

The dark round table strikes part 1:

Buffaloman 3 (GWFUM) **Gets tamed by** Blackheart 7 (MvC2)

****

The Orochi/Orochimaru alliance strikes part 1

Mature and Vice 5 (KOF) **stalemate** Leona (KOF 2k1) and Vash the Stampede 5 (Trigun) (But win with some help from their friends :P)

****

Remy's redemption

Remy 7 (SF:3s) **Dances on** Genjuro 3 (SVC Chaos)

****

The Orochi/Orochimaru alliance strikes part 2

Ryuji Yamakazi and Billy Kane 8 (KOF 2k2) **Beat down** Yashiro, Shermie and Chris 2 ( KOF 2k2)

****

The Dark round table strikes part 2

Nicholas D. Wolfwood and Millie Thompson 7 (Trigun) **Apprehend** Lord Deimos and the Executioner 3 (M: TDA)

****

The Dark round table strikes part 3

Jedah 8 (DS3) **Enslaves** Hsien-Ko 2 (DS3)

****

Personal comments: wow, what a great turnout, I'm glad more people are voting on my fanfic, it really warms my heart the support I'm getting. Thanks to everyone who voted.

****

Anime guys are the suck: Every single fighting game character that originated from an anime was eliminated this section, even Naruto, who I was sure, would at least survive one section.

****

A deeper darkness: Conversely, the Darkstalkers seem to be on fire, none of them have been eliminated, and so far they seem to be the node to beat in this tournament.

****

Who was that masked man?: Special contest for the next section: who was the cloaked figure who KO'ed Vash the Stampede after his fight with Mature and Vice. The first voter who guesses right will have his votes for that section count twice. (Meaning, one live vote from this lucky soul will count twice.) I of course am ineligible for this contest (After all, I know who it is.) If this contest thing pans out, I might do it again.

****

Comments? What comments?: I know I said I would post some of the funnier fight commentaries in this section, but since the majority of them are already up in the review section, I wont bother. Tough break suckers!

Alright, I'm done for this section, sniff you jerks later.


	9. Section 3

****

IGP: The infinity Grand prix

Section 3

The Arena

When the fighters stopped falling they landed in a city street.

A very, very, VERY crowded city street.

People were running around everywhere: gang members, Jack booted thugs, even random people, all running around without rhyme or reason.

Lord Raptor looked around and scratched his head, his face still bruised from where Luffy struck him, "Wow, reminds me of my last live concert, only without the satanic rituals."

Jack, who was near Raptor, reached out and stabbed one of the bystanders, who was too busy running around mindlessly to notice. Looking down the little psycho noted a bazooka lying at his feet.

Mischief would undoubtedly ensue.

****

Central office

"Yes ladies and gentlemen, for this node our fighters will be competing in the scenic state of emergency node, the city street levels. This level is huge with plenty of twists and turns. Weapons, innocent bystanders and non-fighter enemies abound here as well. There is no out of bounds in this stage so death or incapacitation are the only ways for our fighters to win. Stay tuned for more details as the new fighters prepare to make their big entrance."

Crinos switched his mike off and turned to Gary Andrews, who was munching on some cheesecake Legato Bluesummers had brought with him when he returned from the Cafeteria. Legato, along with Knives, leaned against the far wall, Washuu continued working on technical stuff.

"Alright Mr. Andrews, what do you intend to do in order to keep me from being sued all to hell?"

Gary put down his cheesecake and sighed, "Alright, with the relatively minor stuff that's occurred so far, I can keep any would be protesters off your back. But its important you keep things from getting any worse, no on screen nudity or sex, and I'd advise you to keep that zombie guy away from any microphones from now one."

Crinos smiled, "Good, Ill see what we can do."

"To be honest, I'm more concerned with your current fight local, there's a lot of people there and if any of them get hurt or killed we could have some trouble there."

Crinos shrugged, "It's a war zone in the state of emergency node, there already killing each other anyway, I doubt they'll even notice the fighters."

"Besides," Legato added in, "If they do wipe out those people, it will be better for everyone."

Crinos cast a dirty look at legato, whom shifted uncomfortably.

Suddenly, Vash the Stampede bust through the door, a large bump on his head.

"We got a problem, someone's been kidnapped."

"Correction," Wolfwood walked in behind Vash, Lord Deimos and Executioner tied up behind him, "We have two problems."

****

The Arena

Buffaloman (GWFUM)

Buffaloman, (Or rather, Buffalo Rampage) Stormed down the ramp laughing maniacally. Entering the "Ring," he plowed through countless running people, knocking down Demitri, Morrigan, and Chang Kohen in the process.

Unfortunately for Buffaloman, Jack had just figured out how to fire the Bazooka, and used it to great effect, sending the Devil Chojin flying through the window of a nearby store, which was ironically a fine china shop.

****

Shippo (I:AFF)

Not to mince words, Shippo was terrified.

He was the smallest and weakest of his number, and he was about to step into the ring with giants, monsters and psychopaths. And to make matters worse, Naraku was scheduled to go into the ring soon as well, which meant that Shippo may have to fight all alone.

Shippo was scared, but he was also determined, determined to prove to himself, and to everyone, he was as strong as his compatriots.

When he entered the "Ring", He first came across Morrigan, who was just recovering from getting slammed by Buffaloman a few seconds before. The Succubae looked down at the tiny fox demon, and instantly fell in love.

"Oh how cute!" The Makai princess exclaimed as she scooped up the little demon and held him close, squeezing him up against her breasts.

Shippo smiled, maybe this wouldn't be so bad afterall.

****

IGP hotel, room 190

Inuyasha, Kagome, and Sango all turned and gave a dirty look to Miroku, who just laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh, I have no idea where he might have picked that kind of behavior up! I swear!"

****

Arena

Gabumon (DRA)

Matt and Gabumon bound down the ring, Gabumon had already digivolved to his Mega form of Metal Garurumon, and Matt was determined to get this Shikon Jewel and save Sora from the Covenant of seven.

When he entered the ring, he saw something that complicated matters: The people.

"Matt, we can't fight effectively with this many people, someone might get hurt." Metal Garurumon growled.

"I know," Matt sighed, "We'll just fight hand to hand for now. Hopefully the people will clear out when the fighting picks up."

With that, Metal Garurumon bounded towards Chipp, who was the nearest obvious opponent, and tried to bite him. The ninja responded by turning invisible and ducking into the crowd, still winded from using his instant kill on Ganondorf.

****

IGP hotel ground floor

"Its all your fault, you should have had my back."

"I thought you could have handled it, Obviously I overestimated you."

Gaara and Naruto had been arguing back and forth ever since they left the infirmary and started back towards the hidden leafs hotel room. Neither one of them was happy about their performance, and they were taking it out on each other.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that guy was so tough, he had next to no chakra." Naruto said.

"That's because he was a machine, the woman I killed in the first section was the same way, and she turned out to be made of metal. Any idiot could have figured that out," Gaara responded, "At least I eliminated someone."

"Yeah, till you got distracted making kissy face with that half naked chick," Naruto puckered up his lips at Gaara, who glowered at him.

"Thin ice Naruto, very thin ice."

Naruto didn't stop, using his ninja arts to actually turn into Elena, "Oh Gaara, you're so cool, please pay attention to me so a zombie can turn you into a basketball from behind!"

Gaara's sand emerged from his gourd, "I'm warning you, you're playing with death here."

Gaara and Naruto were so busy arguing that they accidentally bumped into Sir Dregan and Taria as they stepped of the elevator.

"Ow," Naruto said as he fell down, shifting back to normal, "Sorry about that, are you… okay…"

Naruto looked up, seeing a chick in armor and a zombie in platemail wasn't the oddest thing he had seen all day, but seeing an unconcious girl and pink bird in tow was cause for concern.

Naruto, being, well, Naruto, stood up and pointed at the pair.

"Alright you bums! Let the girl go and nobody get hurt!"

Dregan and Taria just stared at one another. Gaara shook his head in disbelief.

"Always the hero aren't you? Guess I'll help."

Dregan and Taria dropped their hostages and stepped forward.

"Childish whelps, you know not with who you deal with." Dregan said, drawing his sword, "Prepare to die at the hands of the covenant of seven!"

Naruto smiled, "Forget you, I won't lose to some rotting freak!"

Gaara rolled his eyes, "Just like you said you'll win the tournament?"

Naruto looked at Gaara, "Don't ruin my moment Gaara."

As the Ninja's went head to head with the medieval evil doers, Shang Tsung watched on from the shadows.

****

The Arena

Whip (KOF 2k1)

The former Ikari warrior stepped out onto the runway with a smile on her face. Cracking her blue whip, she marched down to the "ring". Once there, she shot her whip out into the crowd, wrapping it around the neck of Metal Garurumon pulling the beast back from the crowd.

"Hey kid," Whip called to Matt, who was still on Metal Garurumon's back, "If you cant keep your pet under control, I'll do it for you!"

Matt sighed, he really wasn't in the mood to deal with this right now. "Metal Garurumon?"

The wolf Digimon nodded and turned to face whip. Opening his chest cavity he let fly a giant missile. Whip responded by "eep"ing, then shooting her whip straight up, pulling herself out of the way as the missile exploded, freezing several civilians and gang members solid.

**Akuma (MvC2)**

The entire arena went pitch black as the crowds roar died. On the jumbotron a red "Ten" symbol appeared, signaling the entrance of the master of fists himself.

Akuma walked down to the ring, he had kept mostly to himself the previous day, training outside the city and contemplating his future battles. Entering the "ring", Akuma looked around for a suitable rival, and saw one in the form of Demitri Maximov, who was currently fending off both Morrigan and Chipp Zanuff.

****

IGP hotel, room 123

Iori Yagami and Kyo watched the fight with mild amusement, it was pretty much all they could do until either Kagura showed up or until the Orochi made its move. The hidden leaf and sand ninjas that were attending the tournament also watched with interest. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"That might be Kagura." Kyo said as he stood up.

"Or Naruto," Jiraya offered as he went to answer the door, "He and Gaara were just eliminated and they should be here soon."

As it turns out, it was neither Naruto nor Chizuru, but rather a statuesque one-eyed man in soldier attire, a pair of muscular army toughs flanked him that answered the door. Kyo recognized the three immediately.

"Heidern, Ralf, Clark, what are you doing here?" Kyo asked.

Heidern sighed as he and the other Ikari warriors entered. "That fruity friend of yours Benimaru told me I could find you here. We need to talk, now."

****

The Arena

Hsien Ko (DS3)

Hsien Ko hopped down to the ring, a blank expression on her face. The members of the crowd who knew of her thought it was a little odd the normally energetic zombie girl was acting like, well a zombie, but cheered her on none the less.

What was even more disconcerting was the fact Jedah Dohma was walking her down the ramp.

****

Central office

Crinos, who was drinking some hot chocolate, had an incident when he saw this.

"What the, what the HELL is he doing down there?" Crinos turned to Washuu, who shrugged.

"I don't know boss. But the logical guess would be that he's entering the ring prematurely."

Crinos shook his head, "Oh no, now way he's getting away with this. I've given these demons and Orochi freaks way too much leeway, time to get tough! VASH!"

Vash, who was sitting nearby groaned and rubbed his head, his head really wasn't throbbing, but he was trying to get out of having to fight again. "Boss, not so loud, my head hurts."

"A lot more will hurt if you don't get on top of this! Stop Jedah by any means necessary!" Crinos looked over to Washuu. "Send him down."

Washuu nodded, and typed up something on her computer. Before Vash had any time to even react a dimensional portal opened up underneath him, sending him falling…

****

The Arena

…Right onto Jedah.

The dark Messiah groaned in annoyance as he pushed Vash off him and got up. Hsien Ko continued into the arena, where she stood stock still, waiting for her target to arrive. Other fighters might have taken advantage of her apparent immobility, but they were too busy fleeing Jack, who had somehow gotten hold of a helicopter gun and was shooting up fighter and civilian alike.

Outside the ring, Jedah started walking towards the dimensional vortex, only to be stopped by Vash.

"Sorry sir, you're not in this section, please return to the green room and-"

Vash ducked down, dodging a scythe swing from Jedah, the humanoid typhoon drove his right arm, which had morphed into a machine gun, into Jedah's gut, unloading a clip of bullets into the demon lords stomach.

Vash did this of course because he knew bullets couldn't really hurt him. His plan was to stall Jedah until backup got there or Washuu pulled a plot device out of her ass to deal with Dohma.

Unfortunately, the force of the bullets knocked Jedah into the front row seating. Vash watched in horror as Jedah decapitated two bio freaks and a strip fighter in annoyance. Most of the other spectators fled the demon as Vash entered the seats.

"STOP IT!" Vash yelled, half in rage and half in desperation, "STOP KILLING THOSE PEOPLE."

Jedah smiled and motioned for Vash, "Make me."

Suddenly, Jedah felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he was greeted by a fist in the face went sent the dark lord flying.

"WHO DARES?" Jedah howled as he got up, looking up he saw a tall black man with wrapped hands in a boxing pose, being flanked by a basketball player and a foot ball player.

"The names D sucka. Heavy D! And these are my pals Lucky Glauber and Brian Battler!" The Boxer announced.

"Were the US sports team! NUMBAH ONE!" Brian Battler announced, pointing a finger in the air.

"And I'll be damned if some girly dead guy with bat wings is gonna scare us out of our seats." Lucky added, grabbing a basketball that fell from the sky, "So get lost before we smoke your ass."

Jedah smirked at the US teams unabashed machismo, "Ah I see, the humans must prove their superior lack of brain power. So be it, if you wish to die with this red clad gunman, I shall grant you the oblivion you apparently crave."

Vash sighed, and, for the fifth time that day, became aware of how long a day it was going to be.

****

Q (SF3: 3s)

With all the carnage in the front row, no one noticed when Q had gotten in the ring. In fact, no one could even see Q in the ring. The Trenchcoat wearing machine man slipped flawlessly into the panicky mob, emerging just long enough to hit Whip upside the head, then vanishing back into the crowd.

"Who hit me?" Whip looked around and saw Demitri standing behind her, taking a breather after getting double-teamed by Chipp and Morrigan.

"Oh its you!" Whip exclaimed, snapping her trademark weapon at the vampire. Demitri, not really paying attention to someone she considered a minor annoyance, was telepathically chewing out Genjuro for failing to capture Ukyo. So he was taken totally surprised when Whip wrapped her namesake around his neck, pulled him to the ground, and started stepping on his neck. From the crowd, Q watched with fascination.

"…..(Cutie)" was the cyborg's response as he moved on to make more mischief.

****

Room 78

Simon Belmont and Faust watched the monitor as they waited for Ranma and Akane to return from fetching Shampoo from elimination and for Kenshin to return with Lillith. Faust looked over and saw Simon's eyes had taken on a heart shape.

"You okay?" Faust asked.

"Look at her, she's beautiful, she wields the same weapon as I do, and she even hates vampires! I think she might be the one."

"Think again." Simon and Faust looked up to see Ranma, Akane, and Shampoo standing in the doorway. Shampoo looked unusually depressed, while both Ranma and Akane seemed in good spirits. "You're already spoken for."

Simon raised an eyebrow, "What are you…" Before he could finish the thought, Shampoo walked over to him and kissed him, then ran into the other room crying.

Simon blinked, "What was that about?"

Ranma smiled, "Shampoo is a Chinese Amazon, that means when a man defeats her in combat, she has to marry her."

Simon stared at Ranma for a minute, "What now?"

"You see," Ranma explained, "While Demitri was the one who did the majority of damage, you were the one who knocked her out, so technically you beat her. Originally I was her Fiancée cause I beat her, but apparently if another man beats her the previous betrothal becomes null and void." Ranma could barely contain his glee.

Simon nodded, "I see, very well. I am a man of honor, if that's the way it has to go, then so go it."

Faust clapped his hands together in glee. "Oh goody! I love weddings! Can I be the best man?"

Akane looked over at Faust, "Are you even a man?"

Faust raised an eyebrow slyly, "Are you even a woman? Hard to tell from lack of curves…"

Faust would have continued, but Akane's unbeatable mallet-fu beat all. As the devil doctor lay sprawled on the floor, Simon got up.

"Well, I better go talk to her, this cant be easy for her…"

Suddenly the door of the hotel room burst open as a sea of knives flew through the doorway, heading for Simon's head. In one fluid motion the vampire hunter deflected the knives with his whip, sending them to the floor.

"SIMON BELMONT!" Mousse, the knives owner, leapt into the room, taking a crane pose, "YOU WILL DIE!"

Simon blinked, then looked at Ranma, who smiled nervously.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, Shampoo has this crazed myopic stalker who always tries to kill her future husbands. But you can deal with him yourself right?"

Simon sighed as Ranma and Akane backed away. Faust continued to lay unconcious. Something told Belmont he was not going to enjoy married life.

****

The Arena

Starface (GWFUM)

Starface floated down from the sky and landed in the dimensional vortex. He was an unusual looking fighter: his body suit was all white, with bird wings, little horns on his shoulders, and a pentagon on his face, no facial features, just a star.

Starface considered his surroundings for a moment as he floated in midair. He was glad that Warsman had been eliminated already, but Buffaloman was making him nervous, he decided to start with whoever looked the weakest.

As he was contemplating, Metal Garurumon saw an opportunity, leapt up, and grasped Starface in his jaw, shaking vigorously.

"Not too hard Metal Garurumon" Matt cautioned, walking up, "We don't want to hurt him too bad."

Starface sighed, as the star on his face began to extend out like a dial. Calmly, the Chojin reached up and turned the dial.

The next thing he knew, Matt was in the jaws of Metal Garurumon, causing both Chosen child and Digimon to blink.

"Huh? How did he? Where did he?" Matt looked around to see Starface standing where Matt was, waving.

Metal Garurumon spat out Mat and turned to Starface, and was about to launch a missile, when Buffaloman stuck him in the side. Starface chuckled and walked away, looking for another potential opponent.

****

Hinata Hyuuga (N:NH2)

Hinata fumbled with her fingers as she nervously walked down the ramp to the ring. She was hoping that Naruto would have been in the ring to help her and supply support, she would have even settled for Gaara. But they had both been eliminated by the competition relatively easy. It did not fill the young ninja with confidence.

Stepping into the ring, Hinata bumped into Shippo, whom she thought, was cute. The Hyuuga ninja picked up Shippo and gave him another big hug. Shippo smiled dumbly again at the attention. In their room, Inuyasha and his crew continued beating the crap out of Miroku.

Q noticed Hinata was preoccupied, and decided for another sneak attack, this one however didn't work as well. As soon as he swung, Hinata ducked down and knocked Q to the ground with a spinning leg sweep. Looking up the cyborg noticed the veins around Hinata's eyes had become very pronounced. Shippo leapt down and scurried off, not wanting to get between to other fighters of such obvious calibur.

"What are you?" Hinata asked Q, her bloodline ability, the Byakhyugan, revealed that Q's body did not have any apparent chakra flow. Which meant he either had thick body armor, very thick. Or that he wasn't human.

Q's reply was to stomp his foot and growl, the force of his blow splintering concrete. Hinata gulped, she had a feeling it was the latter in Q's case.

****

Room 123

"Impressive ability," Heidern said, after explaining the situation of Leona's kidnapping by Mature and Vice (Security had filled them in on the goings on earlier.) Kyo explained Orochimaru's involvement, and he and the remaining Ikari warriors had reluctantly agreed to wait for Chizuru to come until they made any rash moves.

Neji, who was laying down in front of the TV, nodded, "Hinata Sama comes from the Hyuuga main house, despite her lack of real skill her powers cannot be denied."

"You know, with some proper training I could probably make a good fighter out of her. Think she would be interested in joining the Ikari warriors?" Heidern asked.

Sasuke, sitting nearby, snorted. "Your concern for your friend is touching, you're already scouting her replacement."

The young ninja was silenced by a smack upside the head courtesy of Clark Steel. "Shut up. Leona is like a daughter to Commander Heidern. Not anything I'd expect you to understand."

Sasuke glared at Steel, "What do you mean by that?"

"You think we don't know about you?" Clark smirked, "Jerkface traitor."

Clark's statement drew uncomfortable shifting from most of the ninja, and an angry glare from Sasuke, who didn't like being reminded of his past mistakes.

"Cut it out you two." Kyo said, walking back into the room. "I just got a call from Chizuru, she's en route to this dimension, she'll be here in about an hour."

"Good," Ralf Clark said, he was playing a game of chess with Shikamaru and losing badly, "I'm getting antsy waiting around."

There was a knock at the door, "Room service!" a bubbly voice announced.

Kakashi looked up from his new copy of Come, come, paradise, "Who ordered room service?"

Choji, the portly ninja on the couch next to Heidern, got up smiling. He had not been invited to the tournament, but came anyway to support Ino and Shikamaru.

Before he could get to the door however, a loud scream pierced the air from outside. Suddenly the door was smashed to pieces as the food cart came crashing through, scattering Ninja and mercenary alike.

A blubbering Mihoshi scrambled away as Geese Howard, Wolfgang Krauser, and Mr. Big entered the room. Immediately the Boss team found themselves surrounded: Most of the Ninja pulled shuriken and Kunai, Kankuro, the black clad sand ninja, pulled something wrapped in bandages from his back, while his female counterpart Temari pulled a giant fan. Kiba and his dog Akamaru growled at the trio, while Shino summoned his devastation beetles. Choji watched the trio warily as he munched on potato chips. The Ikari warriors stood along with Sasuke, who activated his Sharingan copy wheel eye. In the corner, Gai and Kakashi looked at each other and then glared at the trio.

"What do you want Geese?" Kyo said, stepping into the circle formed around Geese. The crime boss snickered.

"Lucky for you, I'm not here for a fight, where's that traitor Yamakazi?"

Kyo blinked, then realized what had happened. "Orochi give him a better deal?"

Geese's smile faded as he clenched his fist. "He also beat up Billy, that pisses me off. Where are they?"

Kyo shrugged, "Don't know exactly, you want revenge your welcome to help." Kyo bit his lip, he knew Terry and Andy would kill him if they found out, but at this stage they needed all the help they could possibly get.

Geese laughed, "I'm not interested in fighting the Orochi, or joining your little ninja daycare center." Geese motioned to his men, and the trio turned to leave.

"However," Geese stopped and tilted his head back, smiling. "When you do fight the Orochi, if you win, send Yamakazi my way, I want to give him his severance pay."

Kyo breathed a sigh of relief as the boss team exited the room. Jiraya stepped forward and put a hand on Kyo's shoulder.

"Who was that guy anyway?"

"His name is Geese Howard." Iori Yagami stepped out of the other room, he had been recovering from the seal removal procedure, and the racket of Geese's entrance had woken him up. "He's a super powerful crime boss from our world."

"Nice to see you up." Kyo said, "Feeling better?"

Iori held up a hand and produced a purple flame. "Never better. Let's go kill Orochi."

"When this Chizuru arrives." Jiraya reminded Iori, who nodded and shrugged, not showing too much enthusiasm for waiting.

****

Arena

Blanka (CvS2)

The infamous rolling green beast hooted wildly as he bounded down to the ring, he had been looking forward to fighting all morning. Entering the "ring", the beastly street fighter rolled into a ball and bounced about, mowing down bystanders and fighters as he made a beeline for Hsien Ko.

Hsien Ko, who had been stock still since her entrance, craned her head and stepped out of the way. Causing Blanka to go through a window and into a store. At the same time, Buffaloman stopped mowing people down and also craned his head. Matt and Metal Garurumon also stopped, they didn't sense it like the others did, but they knew what was coming.

****

Naraku (I: AFF)

Naraku, wrapped in a baboon cloak, walked down to the ring accompanied by Million Knives. It was Crinos' order that Knives make sure that Naraku was the one entering the ring, and not a demon puppet.

Naraku was in a crabby mood, he knew well in advance about the demon plot to steal his Shikon Jewel piece, and as a result he had serquested himself to his room since his arrival. He had originally planned to come here and use the tournament as another trap for Inuyasha, but not he was the one in danger of being trapped.

The instant he stepped into the "ring," he was ganged up on. Hsien Ko, Metal Garurumon, Buffaloman, Lord Raptor, Jack and Q all broke from their current opponents and piled onto Naraku. Shippo was about to do the same, but was stopped by Chang Kohen, who had decided that Shippo was indeed edible. Morrigan noticed Naraku, and the Shikon Jewel, but was too busy with Demitri to go after it directly. If only there was some lust crazed fool that she could dupe into fighting for her…

****

Happosai (R1/2HB)

The tiny martial arts Sennin scurried down the ramp as quick as humanly possible. Leaping into the ring he flew like a bullet at a surprised Morrigan. The old man laid a flying jump kick to Demitri, knocking him away, then leapt at Morrigan, burying himself in her cleavage.

"Oh yeah! You don't know how happy I am you survived this long! I've been waiting all morning for a chance to do this!" The old man purred.

Most women, at this point, would have made it their goal in life to wipe Happosai from the face of creation. But Morrigan was a Succubus, and was use to (And capable of) much more perverted acts than this. While others saw a dirty old man, Morrigan saw a dirty old opportunity.

"Mr. Happosai, reports of your great skill come from far and wide, and have reached even me in the Makai." Morrigan purred, stroking the old man like he was a kitten, "If you would do me a favor, I would happily grant you a 'boon', if you follow me." Morrigan squeezed her breasts together, nearly crushing the little man between them. Happosai just nodded dumbly, lust in his eyes.

"You see that guy getting piled on over there?" Morrigan pointed at Naraku, who was attempting to fight off half a dozen men at once, Happy nodded. "He has a gem I want, get it, and Ill give you all you can handle."

Happosai moved so fast that he left after images as he charged through the crowd towards Naraku. Morrigan smirked as she turned her attention back to Demitri, who was getting back up from Happosai's attack.

****

Voldo (SC2)

Voldo staggered out from behind the curtain and down the ramp. The blind mutes only driving thought was to get the Shikon Jewel from Naraku. Entering the "Ring", Voldo immediately leapt into the dog pile on Naraku, slashing the half demon with his katar.

And the final fighter of this section…

****

Sakura (MvC2)

"Hold on Hinata I'm coming!" The young street fighter yelled as she ran down the ramp and into the "Ring". Once in she super jumped over the crowd and delivered a spinning kick to Akuma's head. The Master of fist, who had been attacking Hinata, went flying.

"Thanks Sakura," Hinata said, turning to the schoolgirl, "You really… hey, your not Sakura."

Sakura blinked, "And you're not Hinata." Sakura shrugged, "At least not my Sakura. Want to be friends?"

Hinata nodded, at this point she needed all the allies she could use. Suddenly Hinata saw something behind her.

"Don't look now, I think that ugly ogre guy is back."

Sakura wanted to ask how Hinata had seen that without turning around, but decided not to question she ducked a Gou Hadoken. Hinata leapt up, only to grabbed and slammed down by Starface. The Chojin landed next to Akuma as Sakura helped Hinata up.

"Little girls shouldn't play at being fighters." Starface said, waving his finger at the two. "Wrestling is a mans sport. You agree buddy?"

Akuma snorted contemptuously, "Male or female, the weak will be crushed beneath my heel."

Hinata and Sakura looked at each other, then at Starface and Akuma.

"I think we've been dissed." Sakura said, cracking her knuckles.

Hinata clenched her fists, "I'm not a wrestler, I'm a ninja."

Starface laughed mockingly, "Very well, come on, Akuma was it? Let's put these wimps in their place."

Hinata and Sakura didn't wait for a cue, they charged right at the pair. Meanwhile, Happosai landed near the fight, courtesy of Naraku, and noticed how Sakura was dressed.

"Oh boy, a school girl uniform. Those are the best. Makes it real easy to steel the panties off em." Happosai giggled, Naraku wasn't apparently going anywhere, and this wouldn't take too long anyway.

****

Arena food stands

Sesshomaru and Jaken stood outside the women's bathroom. Rin had gone in about twenty minutes ago, and she had not come out yet.

"How much longer must we wait here lord Sesshomaru!?!" Jaken exclaimed, kicking the door in annoyance. Sesshomaru did not reply.

"Really she should have gone when we were at the hotel! I told her not to drink so much!" Jaken continued to rant, when suddenly somebody kicked him, sending him flying across the room. Sesshomaru looked up to see a gray haired man with silvery eyes standing across from him. The man was dressed as a pirate (though Sesshomaru probably didn't realize this, having never seen a pirate.) and held a hot dog purchased from the food court. On his back was strapped a giant sword, and on his side a smaller one.

"Good morning to ya Sesshomaru." The stranger said, biting into his dog, "Delicious food this modern world has aint it? Much better than the grub back home."

Sesshomaru's poker face was legendary, and it held up against the stranger nicely. "Who are you," The demon asked, "And what gives you the nerve to insult me by attacking my retainer."

The pirate smiled and bowed, "Cervantes de Leon, at your service. I'm here to inquire about those two swords of yours."

Sesshomaru looked down at his swords, the Tenseiga and the Tokijin, "My swords, what of them?"

Cervantes threw away his hot dog and drew his swords. At this point Sesshomaru noticed the man's sword was not only big, but also apparently alive, complete with an eye that stared at him menacingly.

"I want those swords, you see the soul edge is getting lonely these days, and I decided to get it some company. Once I'm finished with you, I'll go after your brother and get his sword too!"

Sesshomaru stretched his hand and glared at the pirate. "Don't make me laugh, to beat you I wont even need to draw the Tokijin. Come at me if you wish to die."

Cervantes smiled as he charged Sesshomaru, "Sorry, death and me aren't on speaking terms, but when you see him tell him I said hi!"

****

THE MULTIVERSE IS THE RING

THE PRIZE IS ULTIMATE POWER

AND WHO WILL GET THE SHIKON JEWEL?


	10. Section 3 Results

****

Grand Prix dimensional gate

The Grand Prix dimensional gate, the portal through which almost all of the competitors in the IGP tournament reached the tournament grounds from their home nodes. Yesterday the streets around it were packed as eager fans watched their favorite fighters coming in through the portal.

Today, the streets were deserted. All the fans were either at the arena watching the fighting or enjoying the other attractions offered by the grand prix. Only the occasional loose flyer, blown across the street by a gust of wind, indicated anyone had been on the street since then.

The dimensional gate however, was in fine working order. As demonstrated when Chizuru Kagura, the latest in a long line of female priests charged with containing the threat of the Orochi, stepped through the vortex carrying a large suitcase containing some clothes, some special seals, and a certain mirror.

Chizuru looked around the deserted streets, then at the nearby clock tower. She frowned to herself, from what Kyo had told her there wasn't much time to lose. Grunting, the young priestess hefted her suitcase and trudged towards the hotel.

She took three steps when she heard a faint buzzing sound, indicating someone else using the dimensional gate. Turning, Chizuru saw a stranger dressed in an orange robe. Chizuru did not recognize the stranger, but she did not sense any malice from the young man either.

"Need any help?" The man asked softly as he walked up to Chizuru, indicating her bag.

Chizuru looked down at the bag and sighed, although she would like some help, she didn't want to trust a total stranger with her things, even if he did seem nice.

"No thank you," Chizuru said, extending her hand to shake, "I'm Chizuru Kagura."

The stranger did not accept her handshake, instead showing his respect by bowing, "Forgive me, but I am trying to remain covert, so I cant give you my name."

Chizuru nodded in understanding and picked up her bag, heading towards the hotel. The stranger walked towards an alleyway, as if tracking something.

"I advise you take care Ms. Kagura," The stranger yelled to Chizuru before vanishing into the alley, "Here, there be monsters."

Chizuru laughed to herself as she walked on, "My friend, you have no idea."

****

IGP: The infinity Grand Prix

Section three results

The Arena

The Corporation forces of the state of emergency node were among the best-trained Orwellian jack-booted thugs that one could hope to find this side of Oceania. Their big business employers had charged them with one simple task: Restore order to china town by any means necessary.

As soon as the troops turned the street corner into Chinatown however, they took one look at the carnage, and decided that now would be a prudent time to take there paid vacation early.

Naraku had a simple battle strategy for when he got into ring. It was a strategy that had served him well for most of his career as a demon: Find a place to hide, let his enemies wear each other down, and occasionally use demon puppets, hell wasps and miasma to wear down more stubborn opponents.

Unfortunately, thanks to the demon-controlled fighters currently in the ring, Naraku would never get to implement his strategy. Instead he was getting the crap kicked out of him.

Naraku would get thrown into the air by a hurricane mixer or a capture and deadly blow, only to get swatted back down by a metal wolf claw or a Death Hurricane. Then once he was on the ground he would get stomped on, slashed, and shot at, if he didn't have the misfortune of landing on Buffaloman's horn or a well timed Rising soul blade from Hsien-Ko.

Needless to say, Naraku wasn't happy, and he was getting less happy as the fight progressed.

Then suddenly, they were gone, all the fighters who had been pulverizing him since he got into the ring were suddenly thrown away from Naraku by some sort of massive energy.

That energy came from Happosai, who had jumped right into the fray and used his battle aura to send the other fighters reeling. Naraku had just enough time to right himself before Happosai began pummeling the living daylights out of him. A few moments later, the other fighters rejoined the fight, beating down the half demon as he grew ever more agitated.

It was a great show, but almost no one was paying any attention, they were too busy watching the fighting in the stands.

Jedah stumbled back, his semi liquid body sporting several indentations from where Heavy D! had hit him. The humans had definitely proven more skilled than Jedah originally thought, but the only real reason any of them were still breathing was due to the fact Jedah was splitting his concentration between fighting the sports team and controlling his new corpse puppet. But even with that in mind, Jedah was still dominating the three sports heroes, who all sported various cuts and scrapes that were dangerously close to full blown injuries.

"Had enough sucka?" Heavy D! asked, cracking his knuckles.

"As a matter of fact I have," Jedah stated with a smirk, "I think its time I kill you pests."

Jedah shot out his hand, his arm extending to an impossible length, and grabbed Brian Battler by the face, hoisting him upward. Almost immediately the dark messiah started pumping blood down the football legends mouth, causing him to swell like a balloon. Brian would have exploded for sure if a gunshot did not sever the demons arm.

Vash had been watching from the sidelines, waiting for an opportunity to try and help. He wanted to do more, but he couldn't get a clean shot with the sports team fighting close range. Ironically, Brian's near loss was Vash's gain as he ran over to join the sports team.

"Get out of here right now! It's dangerous." Vash yelled.

"You kiddin?" Lucky yelled back as he patted Brian's back as he spit up blood, "This guy almost killed Brian, he's going down!"

"Yes gunman," Jedah snarled, as he re-grew his arm, "Even if they wanted to run, I would never allow it. They will all pay for insulting me."

"Blow it out your ass ugly!" Lucky yelled as he lobed a basketball at Jedah, the demon lord cut through the ball with a well place thrown blade, then dashed forward, intending to maim.

What actually happened was more like Jedah flying straight into a R.S.D, reeling, Jedah spun uncontrolled in air towards Lucky, who was ready. Running forward, Lucky struck Jedah with a well-placed Lucky driver, sending him upward. Not being idle, Vash morphed his right arm into the angel arm and took aim. Vash was confident that he could hit Jedah with it and not kill him, and after having its power toned down by Washuu, the ensuing blast radius would be small enough to leave the seating unharmed.

Unfortunately Brian chose that time to recover from Jedah's blood pumper and, seeing him in the air, leapt up to hit him with a American super nova. Vash, Lucky and Heavy all gaped as the angel arm struck just as Brian grabbed Jedah.

When the smoke cleared, Brian was laying flat on his back, his clothes burned off by the angel arm, Jedah was laying nearby, his body having took on a rubbery sheen.

"BRIAN!" The three conscious heroes yelled as they ran over to Brian and looked over him, checking to see if he was alive. Suddenly, the football player's eyes opened and he sat up, rubbing his head.

"Ow, how much did I drink last night?" Brian asked as he rubbed the back of his head. Lucky and Heavy D! sighed in relief, Vash stared.

"Huh? But how… you should… why aren't you…" Vash stammered, Brian just shrugged.

"It didn't hurt that bad, I've been through a lot worse. You should try blocking the Packers offensive line sometime, now THAT hurts."

Vash decided too not to press the issue any further, and walked over to Jedah. The force and heat of Vash's angel arm had caramelized Jedah's liquid body, reducing him to a rubbery mummy.

"I should get him to medical so he can be patched up for his spot in the tournament, you guys need to go there?"

Heavy and Lucky looked at their wounds and shook their heads. Brian stood up shakily and laughed.

"Only medical attention I need is a nice cold one, stat!"

Everyone laughed, except for Jedah of course.

Back in the ring, Hsien-Ko was slashing at Naraku when suddenly the slip of paper on her forehead snapped in half. Lord Raptor, who was on Jedah's payroll and knew about the dark lord's master plan from the start, knew something bad was about to happen.

"What the… where am I?" Hsien-Ko looked around, the last thing she remembered was being attacked by Jedah in the women's locker room, then nothing.

As the stood there, trying to make sense of things, no one could deny that Hsien-Ko was the cutest thing currently standing in the ring. (That would have been Shippo, but a few seconds after Naraku entered the ring Shippo had been pounded flatter than a pancake, then eaten by Chang Koehan, but then he knew the job was dangerous when he took it.)

Lord Raptor, who always lusted after his fellow zombie, allowed his heart to overtake his common sense and approached the confused and agitated Hsien-Ko.

"Hey beautiful, what's shaking?" Lord Raptor crooned as he pulled out his guitar, "Here's a little number I wrote just for you, It's called, 'Zombie love', hope you like it."

Hsien-Ko wasn't paying attention to Raptor and his "Music", she was too busy trying to put together her train of thought, but it was just to difficult to concentrate. If only Lei-Lei would help explain…

Hsien-Ko's eyes opened wide, "Lei-Lei! Where's Lei-Lei?"

Raptor stopped jamming and looked at Hsien-Ko, "Lei-Lei? You mean your sister? I don't know where she is."

Hsien-Ko swung at Raptor, who narrowly dodged by leaping back, Hsien-Ko was growing more irrational by the minute. "You're LYING! WHERE IS SHE? WHERE'S MY SISTER?"

Hsien-Ko continued slashing and kicking at Raptor, who kept moving back, civilians nearby were getting torn to ribbons by Hsien-Ko's attacks.

"I WANT MY SISTER AND I WANT HER NOW." Hsien-Ko bellowed. Raptor knew she was beyond reaching at this point, in her present state, without Lei-Lei to direct her, she was totally crazy. So he did the only thing he could do: he bolted.

Unfortunately, he had the brilliant idea of running towards what would come to be known as the "great Naraku dog-pile", which meant that every fighter that was currently beating the crap out of the demon lord was about to get a big blue mildly psychotic distraction.

Hinata Hyuuga was running, but for entirely different reasons.

Akuma was considered by many to be the ultimate warrior, a god like master of offense and defense that could crush a lesser opponent like a T-rex stepping on an aphid. The fact that Hinata was actually managing to dodge Akuma's relentless and ever quickening attacks, by however small a margin, was a true credit to her skills as a junior ninja and (to a greater extent) her genetic heritage.

But natural advantage can only compensate for so much, Hinata was not skilled enough to barely dodge Akuma's attacks, but not nearly enough to put up any sort of effective counter attack. To make matters worse she was beginning to tire, which means that she was starting to get clipped by some of Akuma's attacks. And judging by how much getting grazed by one of his punches hurt, Hinata didn't want to think about what would happen if the master of fists got a direct hit in.

Hinata's fears where confirmed when Whip, having used her trademark to get out of the way of the now psychotic Hsien-Ko by launching skyward, landed right in the middle of the two fighters. One punch from Akuma was all it took to reduce the young Ikari warrior's head to a bloody stain on the pavement. Seeing this, Hinata decided to evade, and using the art of ninja disguise, transformed herself into a bystander and melded into the crowd. Akuma looked around, snorted with contempt, and went to look for other battles.

Hinata had barely enough time to catch her breath when a massive bazooka shell hit the crowd she was in, sending pedestrians flying. Through the smoke, Hinata could see Blanka, holding a bazooka in one hand and a machine gun in another. The street fighter had never seen firearms before, but having gotten a taste for them he decided he liked them.

"Aroo!" the beast man hooted enthusiastically.

Hinata groaned, reassuming her proper form, "You've got to be…"

"…Kidding me!" Sakura snarled angrily as she fell flat on her back yet again. The young street fighter was not faring much better against Starface than Hinata had against Akuma. Every time Sakura got close enough to attack Starface would take to the sky and kick Sakura upside the head, or grapple her and put her in some manner of grapple. And whenever Sakura did manage to hit the Chojin SHE would somehow end up on the ground instead of him.

"Why don't you give up?" Starface said mockingly, "You're obviously not cut out for…"

"HADOKEN!"

Starface saw a bright light, then blacked out for a couple of seconds. When he came too, he noticed he was smoldering, and Sakura was making a compact motion with her hands.

"HADOKEN!" Sakura let fly another fireball, Starface attempted to freeze time, but the fireball hit him before he could even extend his face dial. Sakura smiled and cracked her knuckles as Starface rose again.

"Now who's not cut out for fighting? What the matter, no chi manipulators where you come from?" The young Shotokan fighter taunted. Livid, Starface took to the sky, hoping for the security of air maneuverability. Sakura threw three Hadoken's at the airborne wrestler, who dodged easily.

"Hah!" Starface sneered with confidence (Or he would have if he had a face), "When I'm in the air I'm untouchable!"

"We'll see about that," Sakura muttered. Bending her knees, Sakura super jumped straight up, soaring above Starface and everyone else. Starface began to dodge, but stopped when he saw something interesting.

****

Central office

Crinos knew it would come to this, which is why Gary Andrews's employment was so essential. Assembled in his office, in angry mob form, were foaming mad Parents, teachers, religious figures and professional tight asses from six different nodes. Leading the mob was Sheila Broflofsky of South Park Colorado, quite possibly the biggest bitch in existence.

"This must stop!" Mrs. Broflofsky shouted, prompting Crinos to cower behind Wolfwood and Knives, who were standing at attention behind Gary the rat, in case things got out of hand, "You show is promoting violence and sex and it MUST STOP! WE MUST PROTECT OUR CHILDREN!" The crowd roared it support of its self appointed spokesperson.

Gary Andrews however, had dealt with this sort of thing before, he knew exactly what to do. "Now Madam, I should point out that this television program is pay per view, and is rated mature for adult themes, violence, and partial nudity. You have no real grounds to demand the shows removal from the airwaves, and if you continue this slander I will be forced to take immediate legal action." Gary gave a smile that made it look like he ate babies as a hobby. "Do I make myself clear?"

The crowd said nothing, they just stared in stunned silence. At first Gary thought it was because of his appearance, it certainly wouldn't be the first time he got that reaction from a mob, but it was soon apparent they were looking at something behind Gary.

Turning around, Gary stared in shock at the image on the monitors, Crinos just shook his head in disbelief, while Knives and Legato held back a sadistic chuckle.

As most fans of the street fighter tournament realized, Sakura liked to fight in her schoolgirl fuku, which meant that whenever Sakura performed any type of leaping action that made her to go higher than six feet upward, the surrounding witnesses would get a tasteful shot of her underwear.

Unfortunately, thanks to a certain diminutive pervert, Sakura's underwear was AOL.

Gary Andrew's ears flopped down, as Crinos asked the obvious question.

"I'm not much for legal stuff Gary, are we boned?"

"Yeah," Gary muttered, "Were boned alright."

"I'm extra boned."

"Shut up knives." Crinos said.

****

The ring

Starface fell flat on his back, courtesy of another Hadoken, and Sakura landed right next to him. Immediately she knew something was wrong.

Everyone had stopped everything they were doing and was just staring at her. The fighters, the gang members, the rioters, everyone. Even Hsien-Ko and Voldo, who were previously trying to tear each other a new one, halted their attacks to look at Sakura. (Why Voldo, who was blind anyway, even noticed something amiss was immaterial to the situation.)

Sakura shrugged, "What's going on?"

Suddenly, the wind picked up, and Sakura felt a draft.

"Oh my god," Sakura said quietly, turning a deep red out of embarrassment. An entire city block…Arena… "Oh my god!" Sakura said louder as she realized the fight was being broadcast in countless nodes, which meant half the known multiverse just got a look at her private parts.

The crowd stared as embarrassment consumed the young Shotokan, they didn't know really how to react to what they had just seen.

Hinata had an idea on how to react, thanks to her Byakhyugan she could see Sakura's chakra becoming dark and growing rapidly, as if the floodgates of her body was overflowing.

"Get back!" the young ninja yelled as she retreated back, "She's gonna blow!"

Sakura's embarrassment turned to shame, shame turned to anger, and anger then turned to hate.

Then, as the floodgates of her mind burst, hate turned into Killing intent.

****

IGP Meditation chambers

Sakura would have been happy to know that her hero Ryu had not seen her little "Peek show", he was too busy meditating and mentally preparing for the upcoming fight. For this, the IGP facilities included extensive meditation chambers, which were large, dark, and well fortified. (So insulated from the world outside that Ryu barely even heard the fight between Blackheart and Buffaloman, which occurred in the gym adjacent to the chamber.)

However, no amount of fortification could keep Ryu from sensing the dark power emerging in the ring. Ryu knew Akuma was in the ring, but now it felt like two Akuma's. Ryu knew this could mean but one thing.

"Another has embraced Satsu no Hadou." Ryu said quietly to himself. He didn't know the implications of this, but he didn't like it.

****

IGP Shopping district

"Yes, and now you too can master the secret art of the worlds greatest martial arts style! And right in the comfort of your own home! Yes, its SEVEN MINUTE SAKIYO!"

Dan Hibiki held up his arm in his traditional power pose, a video in his hand, several more videos stacked in front of him on a table. He had been hocking his work out video all morning, but as expected, no one wanted to buy.

(Which isn't to say there wasn't a crowd. Dan may have been stupid, but he knew enough to hire some pretty girls, dress them in pink Gi's which mirrored his own, and have them perform some of Dan's traditional "Moves" for the public to see. If nothing else Dan drew attention, which is all he really wanted.)

"Hey Hibiki, how's things?"

Dan looked up to see Ken Masters, along with his student Sean and his wife Eliza, standing in front of the booth. Ken was carrying bags in each hand, which he handed off to Sean as he approached Dan's booth.

Dan Hibiki laughed nervously, "Oh everything's fine! My school is getting all kinds of exposure here. Speaking of which, why don't you quit Shotokan and join my school? I could teach you to be REAL strong."

Ken would have normally laughed, told Dan to go fuck himself, and be on his way. But instead he was staring at the arena with an angry determined look. Dan noticed that Sean was doing the same exact thing, only he looked more nervous than determined.

"Ken San, do you sense…"

Ken nodded, "Yes, I feel it."

Dan, as per usual, was clueless, "What are you feeling? What's going on?"

Ken sighed, "Try sensing the chi coming from the arena."

Dan did as he was told, then felt the same evil energy as Sean and Ken. Strangely though, it didn't seem to phase him too much.

"So? Its just Sakura, no big deal."

Ken and Sean stared at Dan, "No big deal?" they said together, then they blinked, "SAKURA!?!"

Dan nodded, "Yeah, she gives off energy like that from time to time when she's pissed off. Never felt it this intensely before. All I can say is, heaven help whoever she's mad at."

****

The ring

The panicky mob was running again, but for an entirely different reason.

Sakura screamed like a bat out of hell, her energy flaring out like a fire out of control. The ground beneath her feet cracked from the force, nearby windows cracked, cars exploded with tremendous force. Every fighter who was paying any attention to recent events and had enough common sense backed away.

Starface was not among this group however. Still disoriented from a combination of eating a Hadoken and getting a look at Sakura's privates, he didn't get a bearing of the situation until it was far too late. When he did get his wits upon him and saw Sakura, he was stunned.

Sakura's entire body was a deep tanned color, here eyes had an evil reddish glow about them, and her face was twisted into a perpetual scowl. The newly christened Dark Sakura glared at Starface, her eyes drilling holes into his very soul.

"You…" The fallen Shotokan in training muttered, her voice comparing a depth of hatred unknown to most nihilists, "Did you do this?" Sakura pointed to her skirt, Starface understood what was she meant instantly.

"Who me? Uh, no! Never, I swear!" the Chojin stammered, but she could tell that Dark Sakura didn't believe her.

"I don't believe you," Dark Sakura muttered, confirming Starface's fears, "You have ten seconds to convince me," Dark Sakura gave a smile that made her look like a Olympic class baby eater, "Or run, you seem to excel at that." Sakura held up her fist and extended her index finger.

"One…"

Starface gulped, "Uh, listen, I'm not going to run, we can discuss this…"

"Two…" Sakura held up another finger.

"I didn't, look, I take it back, I'm sorry!"

Sakura began to gather energy in her other hand, "Three…"

Starface was shuddering with fear, he looked around desperately, and trying to think of something he could do. The suddenly he remembered something he saw when he first engaged Sakura.

"THE OLD MAN!" Starface yelled out, almost making Dark Sakura jump out of her skin, "The little old man, I saw him near you while we were fighting!"

Sakura looked over to Happosai, who currently tussling with Jack, in the sack on his back the fallen Shotokan could see her underwear hanging out.

Dark Sakura turned back to Starface, "Congratulations, you get to die second." Before Starface could react, Sakura delivered a Haru Ichiban to Starface's face, cracking the pentagram on his face and sending him into the claws of a waiting Metal Garurumon. Dark Sakura then Asura warped over to Happosai.

Happosai didn't see it coming, and even if he did there wouldn't have been a damn thing he could have done about it. The instant Sakura got within striking distance the immediate area was plunged into total darkness, the only light coming from the flashes caused by Sakura's blows, the only sound Happosai's piercing screams. The bystanders thought that it was the end of the world, as did some of the more paranoid fighters.

When the lights came on, Happosai was _gone. _The only evidence of his existence was a small black stain on the ground, and a pair of ladies underwear. A fitting memorial if you knew enough about the old pervert. Sakura picked up her underwear, then looked around.

"NOBODY LOOK!"

You hear that? That's the sound of 60 billion people across just as many different nodes turning around at the same exact time. Fifteen seconds later Sakura had her underwear back on.

"OKAY!"

Everyone turned back, and the fight continued as normal. Sakura, still in the grips of Satsu no Hadou, decided to turn her rage back on Starface, who was being harassed by Metal Garurumon.

Sakura's newfound bloodlust did not go unnoticed, Akuma, who had taken to a nearby streetlight because of the lack of "Worthy foes", had observed Sakura's seduction by bloodlust, and he saw what she saw.

"At long last, a worthy opponent." The master of fist mused as he dismounted the street light and gave chase to Sakura.

Meanwhile, Naraku realized that due to the confusion cause by the "Sakura Incident," that no one was paying attention to him anymore. Ever one to take advantage of a good situation, Naraku ducked down a nearby alley and pulled out a small hive and several wooden figurines.

"I'm sick of taking abuse," Naraku chortled as he observed the tools of his trade, "Now's the time I start dishing it out."

****

IGP hotel ground floor

She remembered going to the concession stand with her best friend, being hit on the head from behind and then nothing.

Sora Takanuchi came too with a splitting headache, looking around she saw her faithful Digimon partner sprawled unconcious next to her. And a pair of ninja fighting a Zombie and a witch right in front of her.

Sora, at this point, decided she was still unconcious and then fainted.

Taria was growling in pure annoyance, nothing he threw seemed to work against the fox possessed ninja. He could dodge force bolts and fireballs all day, and was skilled enough at hand to hand to fend off her close ranged fighting.

Truth be told, the only reason the fight had lasted this long is because Naruto, as per usual, was being a ham.

"Ha! Woah! Hiyaa!" Naruto power-posed as he dodged mystical attacks, which annoyed both Taria, and Gaara, who wasn't even paying attention to Sir Dregan as he tried to cut through Gaara's sand shield.

"Naruto, stop acting like an ass and end it!" Gaara shouted, surging his sand forward and knocking off Dregan's shield arm.

Naruto sighed and gave a playful shrug, then he held out his outstretched hand and began to form an energy sphere, Gaara recognized it as Naruto's ultimate attack, the Rasengan.

Taria didn't give a flip what it was, but she knew that it would most likely hurt to get hit by it, so she prepared her own special attack, which would end the fight in her favor if it worked.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto hollered as he charged with energy sphere in hand, at the same time, Taria launched her spell, there was a massive flash of light, and the sound of screaming.

When the smoke cleared, Taria was still standing, and Naruto was gone. In his place, a large chicken stood. Gaara was understandably confused.

"… The hell?" The sand ninja asked the world at large.

Naruto had no idea what the hell had just happened. One minute he was a ninja, now he was poultry. The situation confused and disturbed him. Taria on the other hand was pleased as punch. Until she realized that the sand ninja would now likely kill her once he finished with Dregan. Not even bothering with Gaara or the hostage, Taria up and fled the scene. Shang Tsung, who had seen enough of the debacle, decided to do the same and vanished into the shadows.

This just left Gaara and Dregan. Dregan, despite the loss of his arm, was not discouraged. He continued to strike at Gaara's sand shield with his broadsword. Gaara was so confused by Naruto's condition that he didn't notice Dregan was still attack for a full three minutes.

"What are you doing?" Gaara asked, finally noticing Dregan.

"I'm slaughtering you knave! No one can defeat the covenant of seven!"

Gaara just stared, "What do you… YOUR ARMS OFF!"

"No it's not."

"Yes it is, its right there!" Gaara pointed at the ground, Dregan looked at it and shrugged.

"I've had worse."

"You lie!" Gaara exclaimed, then he thought about it.

"No, no, no hell no." Gaara said, "I'm not gonna do it."

"Do what?" Dregan asked.

"Go through the tired old black knight Monty Python sketch. I don't have the time or the patience for it right now. I've got magic gems to steal, a clan enemy to face, A crazy super friendly black chick to reconcile with, my ninja partner has been turned into a chicken, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FUCKING BUSY I AM?"

Dregan faltered, "Um, well…"

"AND NOW YOU WANT ME TO GO THROUGH THAT TIRED BIT FROM 'MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL' WITH YOU? NUH UH, NO FUCKING WAY. YOU DIE NOW!"

One desert coffin later and what was left of Sir Dregan fell to the floor in pieces. Gaara could have checked on the still unconcious Sora, but he really didn't give a rat's ass. He picked up Naruto-Chicken, and walked down the hall towards the hotel room with the other hidden leaf and sand members.

A few minutes later, Sora came too and found Sir Dregan's head staring at her, she promptly fainted, again.

****

The ring

Thanks to Hsien-Ko and Sakura's respective freak outs, all the fighters who had been chasing Naraku had either completely forgotten about their quarry or were wrapped up in other fights. They quickly remembered their mission when a horde of poisonous insects and giant wooden golems appeared out of nowhere, supplemented by thick clouds of poison gas. Soon all the fighters broke away from their current battles to deal with Naraku's secret onslaught.

From his hiding place, Naraku watched with glee as his carefully thought out plan worked perfectly, all he had to do was keep hiding himself away and using his pawns to fight for him, and he would come out on top.

Of course, his plan didn't bring Voldo into the equation.

While everyone else was desperately looking for Naraku, Voldo had never lost track of him. He sensed him as he ran into the shadows, and followed the half demon quietly and silently. A few katar slashes and a heel kick later and Naraku was out in the open again, and right in the path of Buffaloman.

"Hurricane Mixer!"

When Naraku went spinning upward this time, two items went flying off his person, the first item a small purple gem the size of a gumball, undoubtedly the Shikon jewel. The other items a larger glowing white sphere. The latter rolled to the feet of Demitri Maximov, who was still engaged in a three-way fight with Morrigan and Chipp. The vampire lord knocked the pair away with a demon cradle, picked up the glowing sphere, and observed it.

He had it for all of three seconds when Q arbitrarily punched him in the back of the head. Dropping the sphere, Demitri turned around just in time to get picked up and by Q and get his head slammed against the cyborg's knee. As Demitri bounced away, Q picked up the sphere and pocketed it.

In the green room, wind sorceress Kagura watched the scene on the big monitor, and she smiled.

By the time Demitri got back up, Q was long gone, and Morrigan and Chipp were staring him down.

"You may as well give up" Morrigan said, "You cant beat us both."

Chipp looked at Morrigan, "Who said I'm working with you? I just want that gem you got."

Morrigan pulled out the gem and looked at it, "Oh this? What is it?"

Demitri smiled and drove a chaos flare into Morrigan's chest, sending her reeling back. As she did she dropped the gem, which fell into Demitri's waiting hand.

"It's mine now." The vampire sneered.

Chipp replied with a Beta blade to the face of Maximov, sending him reeling and making him drop the power stone. Chipp reached out to grab it when Morrigan, still disoriented from Maximov's attack, launched into a poorly aimed shell kick, which ended up striking Chipp in the back, and causing all three gems to go flying.

The gems landed at the feet of Hinata Hyuuga, who was using her Kunai to cut down poisonous insects mid flight. Looking down, she noticed the huge chakra reserved the power stones afforded, and reached down to pick them up.

One explosion of light later, and Hinata was a different person. She looked relatively the same, except she was wearing clothes similar to her father, the current head of the Hyuuga main house. But she _felt _different. For the first time in her young life, Hinata felt the boundless confidence and self-assurance that she had longed for her entire life.

Looking around, Hinata saw Dark Sakura trading blows with Akuma. She remembered how Dark Akuma had tried to kill her earlier, and how Sakura, despite being similar to Akuma now, had tried to help Hinata.

Hinata ran towards the fight, hands clenched.

Dark Sakura had held her own against Akuma, matching the master of fist blow for blow. But Killing Intent notwithstanding Sakura was still a novice of the Shotokan style of martial arts.

(And yes, I know its really called Anatasuken style, but Shotokan is easier to spell, so Nyah.)

This of course meant that Akuma has a rough idea of what Sakura could throw at her and how to counter it. Conversely, while Sakura knew what to expect from Akuma, the master of fist attacks often came too fast and too hard for it to matter. Slowly but surely Akuma was gaining the upper hand.

This all changed when the power stone enhanced Hinata appeared between the two. Both Dark Hadou users paused to observe the girl, and her massive chi reserve. Hinata said not a word but went straight to work. Reaching out, the Hyuuga clan noble reached out and tapped Akuma in the chest in rapid succession.

Akuma was a bit confused by what had occurred, but then realized what happened, Hinata had used the dreaded five point seal of doom. Which meant he had lost.

Akuma smiled to Hinata, "Congratulations, I was wrong about you."

Hinata sighed as the power stones magic dissipated, reverting her to normal. "No, I am a weakling, it was just the stones that made me strong."

Akuma watched as the gems flew to the far corners of the ring, then smirked.

"Perhaps, but I know of those gems, they can only bring out ones hidden potential. I believe that one day you will become that strong without the gems."

Akuma turned away from Hinata, then looked back.

"When that day comes, I will seek you out, and we will have a rematch, you and I. Train hard young ninja, I will be."

Akuma walked away from Hinata. On the fifth step, the five point seal of doom kicked in, and his heart exploded. Akuma stumbled forward, lay still a few minutes, then vanished.

Dark Sakura just scratched her head, unsure of what had just transpired.

****

IGP hotel, room 123

Neji, Kiba and Shino stared at the screen, their jaws hung open, they were unsure of what had just happened as well.

"Dude, was that… Hinata?" Kiba asked at last.

Neji regained his composure and cleared his voice, "Perhaps I have… underestimated my cousin. Magical power up or lack thereof, she has demonstrated massive potential I never noticed before."

Shino smiled wryly, "Takes a big man to admit he's wrong doesn't it?"

Neji glared at Shino, but said nothing. "I… suppose I should invite her to train with me and her father when we get home."

"Yeah," Kiba said, "Afterall, you don't want her to beat on you for always picking on her after she becomes super powerful and such now do ya?"

Neji was about to reach out and peel Kiba's head off when Gaara came in carrying a big chicken under his arm.

"Hey Gaara," Jiraya said, crossing the room to meet the sand ninja, "Sorry you got beat in the tournament, but its probably better you're here." The toad hermit looked around, "Where is Naruto."

Gaara sighed and held up the chicken, which clucked sadly.

"We… have a problem."

****

Room 78

"Listen, can we talk about this?"

"NO!"

Simon sighed as he rolled out of the way of Mousse, who charged forward slashing at him with claws hidden inside his cloak. Belmont for the life of him could not figure out where all these weapons were coming from, but in the course of five minutes Mousse had thrown everything from an Iron ball and chain to a kid toilet shaped like a duck at him. The entire hotel room had been torn to pieces by the fighting as Simon desperately attempted to avoid being torn apart by the angry Amazon.

"Hey could you guys keep it down?" Ranma yelled from his spot on the floor. He and Akane were watching the television and for some reason had avoided getting hit by anything. (Ukyo was in the next room resting, and Faust had left to secure Kodachi, despite Ranma's protest. No one had heard anything from Kenshin since his elimination.)

Simon looked over at Ranma in disbelief, "Are you insane? He's trying to kill me!"

Mousse saw his opening, and decided to take it. Leaping into the air directly above Simon, Mousse's feet inexplicably morphed into a pair of bird talons.

"Prepare to die! HYAA!"

Simon grumbled in annoyance and grabbed Mousse out of his attack with his whip, sending him to the floor. As Mousse rose to his feet, Simon produced a flask of holy water.

"I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no alternative." Simon muttered as he threw the flask. When it struck Mousse, he turned into a duck, then promptly burst into flames.

"What the…" Simon muttered, looking over the now charred Mousse, scratching his head.

"That's his Jusenkyo curse, he gets wet with cold water, he turns into a duck. Hot water changes him back."

Ranma looked at Mousse for a second, then looked to Simon. "Why did he burst into flames?"

"Enchanted Holy water," Simon explained, "Simple white magic, must react badly with Chinese dark sorcery."

Akane looked up, "I thought all that dark sorcery Mousse bragged about was bunk."

Ranma shrugged, "Guess the holy water didn't know that."

Simon walked over and picked up the roasted Mousse by the neck and looked it over. "In my country, it's customary to prepare a feast for a marriage. If I and this 'Shampoo' woman might want a nice duck dinner. Where's the kitchen?"

Akane and Ranma looked at each other nervously. "Uh, Simon…"

****

The Ring

When Naraku dropped the Shikon Jewel, Naraku ceased to be a target. Almost all of the fighters that were attacking him before dropped what they were doing in order to search for the mystic gem.

Naraku would have joined them, but a still berserk Hsien-Ko was trying to tear him limb from limb.

"WHERE IS MY SISTER! TELL ME TELL ME RIGHT NOW!!!" The Chinese ghost howled as she tore into Naraku. The half demon sprouted spider legs from his back and leapt back, blocking the wild zombie's claw swipes and kicks. Unfortunately without his Shikon Jewel, Naraku was unable to keep up with Hsien-Ko in her berserk state. Even more unfortunate was Q being nearby. The cyborg calmly stepped between the pair, grabbed them both, and slammed them together. Naraku fell to his knees, clutching his now bleeding face. Hsien-Ko clawed at Q, attempting to tear the robot into pieces. Q clutched his mask and breathed heavily, then wrapped his arms around Hsien-Ko.

The exploded knocked the unexpected Naraku across the street into lord Raptor. The undead lord of the dance got up from looking for the Shikon jewel and glared at Naraku, who confidently smirked.

"Doesn't anything get you down?" Raptor inquired, "You've been getting piled on since you got into the ring but you still got that smug look on your face."

"I've got a great poker face, what can I say?" Naraku mused. Raptor chuckled and pulled out his chainsaw, lopping off Naraku's right arm. Naraku didn't flinch.

"Great poker face." Naraku repeated, as his fallen arm morphed into a worm-like demon, reattached itself to Naraku, and morphed back into an arm.

Raptor nodded, genuinely impressed. "Oh right, now I remember, your made up of numerous minor demons, I forgot that part."

Naraku smirked, "You're a bigger fool than Inuyasha, and that's saying something. You should realize you can't beat me with a chainsaw."

Raptor smiled, he had been waiting for this, it was time for the ultimate undead.

A flash of light later and Raptor turned into a large yellow version of himself. Before Naraku could even scream Raptor chopped his head off, then kicked it away. Then he lopped off his arm, then his other arm. Soon Raptor went as crazy as Hsien-Ko and began chopping and re-chopping Naraku into little pieces. By the time Raptor's dark force wore off all that was left of Naraku was a finely chopped demonic salad, which vanished in a flash.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish." Lord Raptor said, leaning on his chainsaw. It was at that moment he noticed Hsien-Ko's irrational screaming was gone. Looking around, he soon found out why.

Those who had saw the scene were uncertain on how exactly Q had survived blowing himself up, never mind getting out of it without a single scratch on his entire body. But there he was, standing over a badly charred and semiconscious Hsien-Ko.

"Sister… where is sister…. Got to find sister…" Hsien-Ko muttered pitifully as she lay there. Q leaned over the ghost's body, and nudged it with his foot, causing Hsien-Ko to crumble to dust.

"Hey oi!" Raptor snarled, pointing at Q., "That's my girlfriend you just roasted!"

Q tilted his head, "…. (So?)"

Raptor blinked, "Stop trying to confuse me! You die now!"

Raptor yelled and charged, waving his chainsaw as he did, Q walked back slowly, blocking the blades with his forearms as he did so.

So furious was Raptors attack that he nary noticed Demitri flying over his head and landing on the pavement. Morrigan strutted over as the vampire got back up. Demitri rubbed some blood off his face then smirked.

"You've gotten soft my dear, what's wrong? Become too dependent on that little sister for a power boost?"

Morrigan responded by slamming Demitri to the ground with a vector drain. Demitri responded by vanishing from the ground and reappearing in mid air, coming at Morrigan with a bat spin. Morrigan leapt up and dashed towards Demitri. As a second Morrigan appeared behind him, Demitri knew he was in for a world of hurt.

Across the street, Jack sat crouched, the Shikon jewel in his hand. The strange old man had offered him many shinnies in exchange for this large shiny, and jack was at least cognizant to know that was a good deal.

That is, until Voldo mantis crawled onto the scene. (In the VIP seating, Marilyn Manson screamed lawsuit at the top of his lungs.) Getting up, the blind vault guardian pointed at Jack and this Shikon jewel, indicating with heavy breathing and groaning something that could roughly be determined to be a challenge. Jack pocketed the jewel and pulled out his daggers, giggling madly as he did so. If there was one thing Jack loved more than shinnies, it was stabbing. Slowly the two freaks began to circle one another, their blades held out in front of them.

Up in the seats, Eric Cartman and the other boys of South Park sat. With their parents preoccupied with yelling at the Grand Prix owners, the young boys were free to go where they wished in the arena, and they had the good fortune of finding some vacant seats in the back. (The seats belonged to some of the boxers from the super punch out node, but they had all cleared out to try and get Balrog and Dudely's autograph in the back.)

As the four kids watched the fighting, Cartman's attention fell to the Voldo/Jack duel. Cartman, being Cartman, came out and said what everyone else was thinking.

"CRIPPLE FIGHT!!!"

This was like a sounding bell for the two freaks. Jack lunged forward and swiped at Voldo, who leaned back and twirled, with his Katar, nearly taking the stabbing loony's head off. Jack then rushed forward and slashed Voldo across the chest.

As this was going on, Demitri fell to the ground groaning, Morrigan chuckled and hoisted Demitri up by his collar.

"Say it again." Morrigan slapped Demitri, "Go on," She slapped him again, "Say I'm useless without my sister." Three more slaps, "SAY IT!"

Demitri's eyes shot open, a smile on his face, Morrigan watched as his body began to break up into a swarm of bats.

"Alright…"

Morrigan screamed as a horde of giant bats tore her systematically to shreds. As this occurred, Jack finally managed to get a decisive blow against Voldo, stabbing the blind madman in the neck and eliminating him. When Jack turned around, he saw Morrigan, torn up horribly with cuts and bites, with Demitri standing over her.

"Your not useless without your sister. Your useless even WITH her help." Demitri picked up Morrigan by the hair, bearing his fangs. "But without Lillith, your especially pathetic, just like your father."

Morrigan would have killed Maximov for his last comment if she could, but right now it was all she could do to stay awake. She didn't even notice Jack coming in from behind as Demitri continued to gloat.

"So you found out why I'm here did you? No matter, those so-called 'allies' of yours won't be able to stop me. I know why you're here too, you want to use that psychopathic doctor to heal Belial." Maximov frowned at the thought, "Well it won't happen, I will claim my brides, and kill Faust, and there's nothing you or anyone else can…"

Demitri was interrupted when he felt something sharp poking him in the side. At first he thought a piece of glass or loose debris had gotten stuck in his side, but when he investigated he saw it was really Jack, stabbing him again.

"Oh," Maximov snorted with contempt, "Its you again."

Jack didn't know Maximov was a vampire, and thus stab-proof. And if he did know he most likely would not have cared, afterall, he was in it solely for the stabbing. Therefore he was more than a little surprised when Demitri threw the barely conscious Morrigan into him, sending them both reeling back. Maximov finished the pair off with an EX chaos flare, roasting the pair to a cinder.

__

Genjuro… Demitri said telepathically. The rogue swordsman, who was recuperating in the hotel lobby after his embarrassing defeat at the hands of Remy, snapped to attention.

__

Get moving, Its time to go after Kodachi Kuno, oh, and there's another thing I need done… I have someone I want you to kill.

****

IGP concession stands

Sesshomaru leapt back, narrowly avoiding getting shanked by Cervantes soul edge. As much as the demon lord hated to admit it, Cervantes was far more skilled than he had originally thought. The immortal pirate's soul edge protected him from Sesshomaru's poison mist, and Cervantes could parry energy cords all day. Fighting close was risky business too. Not only were Cervantes swords strong enough to tear into Sesshomaru and make him feel it, but at least twice the pirate had reached out in close combat and nearly stolen either the Tokijin or the Tensega from their hilts, which annoyed Cervantes to no end.

"HAH HA!" Cervantes cackled as slashed at Sesshomaru from above, forcing the demon back, "You may as well give up, you can't keep this up forever, and with one arm you cant fight me even with your swords."

Sesshomaru had a poker face most gamblers would kill for, and it held up against Cervantes' taunting. "You should realize I am merely toying with you, a bit of diversion before I enter the ring. I could shatter your so called 'super sword' with a single stroke of the Tokijin." Sesshomaru rested his hand on the hilt of his blade as if to indicate. Cervantes gave a wicked grin and put away the Nirvana, holding the soul edge with both hands.

"Is that a fact? Well then, PROVE IT!" The pirate charged at Sesshomaru, the Soul Edge in front of him.

Sesshomaru drew the Tokijin so quickly Cervantes didn't see it happen, in a flash the two swords were clashing. Demonic energy encircled the two swordsmen as they struggled against one another.

After a solid minute of struggling, the sound of cracking metal began to ring through the food stands, Cervantes watched on in shock as cracks began to form in the Soul Edge.

"No…" The Pirate said in a near whisper, "It cannot be…"

Sesshomaru forced the Tokijin forward, and the Soul Edge cracked more so. Sesshomaru's expression never changed.

"Do not be surprised human, it is just as I said. I have been toying with you, and this sword of yours is no match for me."

Cervantes screamed as the Soul Edge shattered to pieces, the pieces flying into the air and scattering all around the Grand Prix City. Cervantes fell to his knees, totally catatonic.

"My sword…. It cannot be…. Its impossible…."

Rin chose this moment to exit the ladies room, and Jaken this point to regain consciousness. Sesshomaru's two retainers came over and observed the shell-shocked pirate.

"Who is this man lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked. Sesshomaru gave a faint smile, the first sign of emotion he had given all day. "No one Rin, lets get going now."

Sesshomaru and Rin took off towards the arena together. Jaken stayed back just long enough to give Cervantes a good whack upside the head with his staff before rejoining the others.

****

The Ring

Matt and Metal Garurumon were not up on current events. They did not know that Sora was no longer a hostage of the covenant of seven, and he did not know that Jack, and the Shikon jewel, been eliminated.

The reason for this being that he was currently fighting with Starface. The flying Chojin darted around the air then flew at Metal Garurumon like a missile, striking him feet first and knocking him down. Once on the ground, Metal Garurumon righted himself and launched a bevy of missiles at Starface, knocking him from the sky. Once on the ground, Metal Garurumon pounced on him, pinning him down.

"Alright, tough guy." Matt said from the back of Metal Garurumon, "let's see you try those fancy time tricks now."

Starface managed to get a hand free and reached for the star on his face, "If you insist…"

This proved to be a mistake. After the blow to the face from dark Sakura a few minutes prior, Starface's time freezing dial was severely damaged. Once he turned the dial, the crack in the pentagram began to grow, forming more cracks, cracks that eventually spread across the chojin's body.

Metal Garurumon and Matt looked at Starface, then at one another, then realized they were totally boned.

Starface's body exploded into a reddish light, which promptly collapsed into a vortex which, sucked both Matt and Metal Garurumon in. Nearby, Q noticed the dimensional vortex, and used a deadly double combination to force Lord Raptor back into it, causing him to be sucked up into the vortex just before it vanished. Q then walked away into the shadows, disappearing from sight yet again.

Raptor, Matt and the now de digivolved Gabumon re appeared in a purple wavy void. Lord Raptor looked around and scratched his head.

"Oy, reminds me of the dead concert of 67, man what a show that was."

Matt looked at Raptor in surprise, "You played with the grateful dead?"

Raptor nodded, "Yeah, and Hendrix and Ozzy, and Alice Cooper too."

"Kiss too?"

"Yep, Kiss too, Gene Simmons actually owes me five bucks now that I think of it."

Matt smiled, "Would you consider joining my band? Our lead guitarist recently quit and were looking for a replacement."

Raptor smiled back, "Sounds smashing mate!"

Both Gabumon and La Malta rolled their eyes and groaned.

****

IGP Central office

Knives and Legato leaned against the barricaded door, the protesting parents outside trying to claw there way in. Crinos wasn't paying much attention though, he was too busy watching what was going on in the ring.

"Washuu," Crinos turned to the female scientist, "Please explain."

"Its simple really," Washuu stood in front of projection screen as various graphs and charts flashed by, "You see, Starface's control over time and space was always tenuous at best, though he never realized it before. When he activated the time freeze after Sakura damaged his controlling mechanism, it well, broke time, depositing Raptor and Gabumon outside of time."

Crinos nodded, dumbly, "Okay…so how do we handle the elimination counts?"

Washuu shrugged, "Sakura caused Starface's elimination, albeit in a second hand way, so she should get credit for that one. Starface was fighting Gabumon at the time, so he should get credit for eliminating the Digimon. And Raptor was thrown into the vortex by Q, so that resolves that part."

Crinos nodded, "Makes sense, incidentally, you can get those guys back right?"

Washuu shrugged, "The dimensional retrieval program can pluck people in from any time or place. But those guys are not any time or any place. It may take a while to get them back."

Crinos sighed, "No worries, I don't think anyone who matters is gonna miss em."

Washuu blinked, "But what about the other Digidestined? And Jedah?"

"Like I said," Crinos leaned back in his chair, "nobody who matters will miss them."

****

The ring

Hinata and Sakura chatted idly as they continued their running battle. Although she was still in the thralls of Satsu no Hadou, without anyone to incite her rage, Sakura was still acting like Sakura. And without the power stones to empower her, Hinata was back to her mousy and fragile self. Which meant there conversation consisted of the usual girl stuff: Boys, hair, fashion, more boys, stuff like that.

Blanka, who had ducked under an overturned car after being stung by a poison insect, crawled out from underneath a upturned car just in time to nearly get stepped on by Hinata and Sakura. Hooting madly, Blanka kicked Hinata, knocking her over, then electroshocked Sakura. Blanka hooted madly as the girls rolled away and got up.

"What IS that thing?" Hinata asked, staring at the monster.

"That's Blanka, he's friends with some pathetic wannabe fighter I know, he's pretty tough, but mostly harmless." Dark Sakura said calmly. "Why don't you fight him? I'm gonna go pick a fight with that vampire or the guy in the mask, they look pretty tough."

Hinata stepped forward as Sakura Asura warped away. Blanka hooted wildly and launched into a beast roll towards Hinata. The hidden leaf ninja saw it coming a mile away and dodged beneath it. Blanka rebounded off a nearby wall and came right back, prompting Hinata to dodge again. Blanka then bounced off the light poles and at Hinata again and again the green beast missed.

Hinata realized that she could not keep this up forever. Eventually either she would get tired or Blanka would get lucky, she had to end this quickly. Hinata got up from after ducking another beast roll, then stood there, her eyes closed. Blanka took this as a sign of surrender and charged yet again, this time apparently hitting his target.

What he really his was a log. Blank stopped rolling and looked at the pile of splinters in confusion. Hinata then burst from underneath a nearby manhole and delivered a few well-placed light as a feather touches to the beasts forehead.

Before he knew it Blanka was brain dead, the gentle fist blows to the forehead having bypassed his skull and reduced his brain to pudding. The green beast fell flat on his back drooling, and vanished in a blinding flash. Hinata leaned against a nearby car and breathed a sigh of relief.

****

Room 997, IGP hotel

M. Bison cradled his hands as he watched the fight on TV, the dictators winning smile plastered on his face.

"Juni, Juli," Bison pointed to his twin brain controlled assassins as they stood at attention, "Get down to the eliminated seating and pick up miss Hyuuga when she is eliminated. The fact that someone like that is not already on my payroll indicates a gross failure on the part of our recruitment offices."

"Shall we liquidate the current members of the recruitment offices sir?" Juni inquired.

Bison shook his head, "No, I am feeling uncharacteristically generous today, have their families killed as a warning."

"But sir," Juli remarked, "Most of the recruitment office members are unmarried."

Bison nodded, his head, "I see, alright then. Here is what we will do: Plan a mandatory Sadie Hawkins dance for next month, and for each consecutive month until each member of the Recruitment office is in a loving meaningful relationship, then kill the girl friends and boyfriends."

Juni and Juli both saluted and spoke at once, "Very good sir. Your are brilliant as always sir."

Bison smiled, "So true ladies, So true. Now get going."

Juni and Juli exited the room, as Bison got up. Vega, who had been watching from the shadows, stepped forward.

Bison cast an eye on the psychotic Spaniard, "You disapprove of my decision?"

Vega coughed uncomfortably, "Of course not Bison. As always, your planning is sound."

Bison's eyes narrowed, psycho power emanating from them. "Do not play the yes man Vega. It is the dolls job to agree with me mindlessly, not yours. If you disagree with my policy, I expect you to be honest with me."

Vega nodded solemnly, "Does that mean you wont kill me if you don't like what I have to say sir?"

Bison smiled and shrugged, "We'll play that part by ear, now what's on your mind?"

Vega groaned silently, he hated it when Bison neglected to take his medication. The last time he didn't take his "Dictators little helpers," he came up with the brilliant idea of "Shadow Charlie".

"Three things: First thing, I don't like that Hyuuga girl, she's too mousy and frumpy, not pretty at all. Secondly, considering her power, and the fact she single handedly killed Akuma and that brute Blanka, it is obvious she represents a force that Juni and Juli obviously cannot handle on their own. And as for three, As I understand it Hinata is the successor to an entire ninja _family_, consisting of men and women with powers similar to hers, but who are better trained and far more ruthless. All of these facts tell me that drafting Hinata Hyuuga to Shadow law is the fevered dream of a madman…" Vega noticed the evil glint in Bison's eye, and decided to back pedal, "Not that there's anything _wrong _with that sir, but I'm just saying…"

"It's quite alright Vega." Bison gave his most encouraging smile (That is, the one that made him look the least like a total madman, which still came off as monumentally creepy.), "You made several valid arguments."

Vega's fear became replaced with cautious optimism, "Seriously sir? You mean that?"

Bison suddenly frowned, "No, I don't. Once again you allow your foolish comparison of beauty to power to cloud your judgement. As for the Hyuuga clan, I already have a plan for defending against them. Now be gone, go help Juni and Juli extract the Hyuuga woman if you think so little of their skill."

Vega bowed politely and exited the room quickly. As he ran to catch up with Juni and Juli, the implications of what had just occurred sank in.

He, Vega, a masked serial killer who had an irrational hatred for people he deemed "ugly", had just acted as the voice of reason in an argument.

If your not shuddering right now, you have no soul. Yes, I'm talking to you.

****

The Ring

The ground quite literally shook as Chang Koehan and Buffaloman slammed their heads together, again quite literally. The two giants had been pummeling one another since Naraku's elimination, and neither one was giving up.

Enter on Chipp Zanuff, who had been observing the fight from afar since Morrigan was eliminated and Demitri had gotten a new job as a punching bag for an over tanned schoolgirl. Chipp observed the two giants as they beat each other senseless; he could take one of them by himself if he was lucky, but the young ninja didn't want to risk being double teamed (He remembered what had happened to Tyson Granger in the previous section.). Looking down, Chipp noticed how much damage the ground had taken from the fighting, and also that there was a large bomb resting at his feet.

Chipp smiled as he got an idea. Scooping up the bomb, Chipp charged and hit Chang from behind with an Alpha blade, he then knocked Buffaloman down with a beta blade. Chipp then took off. Chang and Buffaloman got up, shook hands, and took chase.

Chipp ran quickly, barely keeping ahead of the giants as lead them along, dragging his arm blade across the ground as he did so. Eventually, he stopped running, Chang was the first to attempt an attack, lunging at Chipp and nearly crushing him. The ninja rolled away and nearly lost his head to a hurricane mixer. Chipp smiled as the ground began to rumble. The ninja leapt up and grabbed a hold of a light post as the ground beneath Chang and Buffaloman collapsed beneath the two, dropping them into the sewers.

Neither Chang nor Buffaloman were severely hurt by the fall. The C-4 chaser however, hurt bunches.

Chipp observed the battlefield as he sat atop the light post, to his left, Hinata was narrowly avoiding being torn in half by Q, and to his right Dark Sakura was pounding the living crap out of Demitri. As Chipp contemplated whom he would help first, the fighters fell into a dimensional void, indicating the start of the next section.

****

SkyBox 1

Due to crossover games and mystery fighters, a lot of nodes only had a single representatives entered in the tournament, in a kinda half assed way to make it up to them, the IGP staff was holding a party in a SkyBox, invitation only.

Of course, this didn't stop the party from becoming totally chaotic. The world Heroes and Time Killers had taken over the bar, ("occupying the territory", Brocken said in an attempt to be funny, no one laughed.) Mantou ace and Kuma had raided the snack table, making a mess, and in one of the corners a large dust cloud indicated a fight between Kazuki and Sogetsu which had gotten out of hand and was gonna remain out of hand for the remainder.

Janne sighed as he looked over the food table, the world hero hoped she could find something that hadn't been defiled by some sort of wild beast, but to no avail.

What she did find was a strange piece of metal floating in the ranch dip, tentatively she picked up the shard of the soul edge and pocketed it.

Across the room, Nightmare, formally known as Sigfried of Germany, watched with interest.

****

Final results: 

****

These are the total votes for all the fighters, out of nine possible live votes.

Hinata Hyuuga 7

Q 7

Chipp Zanuff 6

Sakura 5

Demitri Maximov 4

****

Line of Elimination

Chang Koehan 3

Starface 3

Lord Raptor 1

Akuma 1

Jack 0

Gabumon -1

Morrigan Aensland -1

Shippo -3

Hsien-Ko -3

Buffaloman -5

Whip -5

Voldo -5

Blanka -7

Naraku -7

Happosai -9

****

Fighters who got elimination's this section: Hinata Hyuuga, Q, Chipp Zanuff, Sakura and Demitri Maximov: 2, Chang Koehan, Starface, Lord Raptor, Akuma and Jack: 1.

****

Current Elimination leaders: Demitri Maximov, Chang Koehan and Lord Raptor with four elimination's each.

Bonus matches:

****

mid-evil:

Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara of the Dessert 5 (N: NH2) **broil** Taria and Sir Dregan 4 (M: TDA)

Security Smack down:

Vash the stampede (Trigun) with Heavy D!, Lucky Glauber, and Brian Battler 7 (KOF 94) **flash fry** Jedah Dohma 2

Devil in the deep blue sea:

Sesshomaru 5 (I: AFF) **debones** Cervantes De Leon 4 (SC2)

Love Stinks:

Simon Belmont 8 (DMTV: WF) **roasts** Mousse 0 (R1/2HB) with one absentee

****

Comments:

Sympathy for the ninja: Almost all the people who voted for Hinata did so out of pity. Take of that what you will.

****

Come from behind victory: In the third bonus match, It looked like Cervantes was going to win until the very end. Just a demonstration that every vote counts in this fic. On the plus side it allows me to go in a bold new direction with the fic which I think everyone will enjoy.

****

Reverse of fortunes: Almost all of the Darkstalkers except for Demitri were defeated in this section. Conversely, with the exception of the Ranma ½ guys and the Digimon, almost all the anime fighters managed to win their matches and at least get elimination. Again, take of that what you will.

Well, see you guys next section!


	11. Section 4

****

IGP Central Office

Crinos smiled to Washuu, "So, is the sound system back up?"

Washuu nodded, "Yep, It was knocked out by mistake once we started the dimensional vortex transporter. But now it's back online."

Vash chose this point to enter the room, the gunman looked even more world weary than usual.

"Hey Vash," Crinos said, "How's Jedah?"

Vash shrugged, "No real damage, he should be fine to fight in a few sections. Incidentally, where are the protesters?"

Crinos shrugged, "Gary the rat wasn't working out, so Knives shot one of the protestors, that quieted them down."

Vash sighed, he hoped Crinos was joking, but he knew he wasn't. "What else is up?"

"Well, we got the sound system up and running again, so we can start playing theme music again. All we need is someone to run the system for us."

Vash thought about it and smiled, he had just the guys in mind.

****

IGP: The Infinity grand prix

Section four

The ring

When the dimensional vortex effect faded, the five fighters found themselves in new surroundings.

Which, Ironically looked like their previous surroundings, a large Chinese city, with cars and trucks strewn across the street. There were some differences though. There were no mobs of people, what replaced them was green coated Nazi like soldiers, bound POW's, and an assortment of military vehicles including tanks and planes.

The five fighters took one look at their surroundings, shrugged, then went on fighting.

Up in the eliminated seating, Mars's people had a conniption fit.

****

Central Office

"Yes ladies and gentlemen, this section of the IGP will be held in the scenic Chinese City from Metal Slug 2. Lots of weapons, lots of hazards. And watch out for the food, it will really pile up on ya!"

Crinos flipped off the microphone and turned to the US sports team, "Alright guys, I wanted to say thank you for helping keep Jedah under control, so how would you like to run the sound booth?"

Lucky scratched his head, "I don't know, that sounds kinda complicated…"

Crinos smiled assuredly, "No worries friend, it's a snap to operate thanks to Washuu's user friendly software…"

Knives took this opportunity to but in, "Yeah, even an inferior life form such as yourself should be able to figure it OOF!"

Knives's taunting was suddenly halted by a basketball that somehow inexplicably got lodged down his throat, as the even humanoid fell to the ground Heavy D! Entered the conversation. "So, what exactly will we be doing?"

"Basically you'll be picking out theme music for fighters who haven't requested their own music. Think you can manage?" Crinos responded.

Brian asked the obvious question, "Will we get beer?"

Crinos thought about it for about half a second. "Sure, why not?"

Brain, Lucky, and Heavy D! looked at each other and smiled, Crinos then suddenly realized he may have made a major mistake.

****

The ring

Li Xiangfei (KOF 2k1)

The young Chinese lass had mixed feelings as she made her way down to the ring. On the one hand she had a terrain advantage, along with the heart and determination that came with being a member of the Women's team. On the other hand she had lost a bit of confidence considering the fate of every other female Chinese fighter who had gotten into the ring before her. Plus the fact she was hungry, she only had fifteen plates of dim sum for breakfast, a fraction of what she usually ate.

Entering the "Ring", Li rushed over and grabbed Q from behind, trying to throttle the Cyborg. Q didn't even notice the Chinese girl hanging off him as he swung at Hinata.

Li's stomach growled again, she really hoped there was some good food in this node.

****

Kyosuke Kagami (CvS2)

Kyosuke stepped onto the ramp and pushed up his glasses. As he did, the speakers fired up, courtesy of the Sports team.

__

No more pencils

No more books

No more teacher's

Dirty looks

Out for summer

Out till fall

We might not come

Back at all

Kyosuke stopped walking down to the ring long enough to cast a quizzical look to the sound booth, which was visible from the ring. He then shrugged and took to the ring.

__

School's out for the summer

Entering the ring, Kyosuke ran up behind Demitri and delivered a flying kick to the vampire's head, knocking him dizzy. As he rolled away, Kyosuke stepped up to Sakura.

"Hey Sakura, long time no see, what's up with the suntan?" Kyosuke asked. Sakura stared at the felled Demitri and scowled.

"You should not have interfered, he's my opponent." Sakura muttered. Kyosuke was understandably confused.

"What? But I'm your friend! We fought against my brother and Justice high school together, of course I'm gonna help you fight vampires or whatever and-GURK"

Before Kyosuke could finish his thought, Dark Sakura grabbed the young schoolboy by the collar, her eyes lit up like the end of the world.

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" The dark Shoto in training yelled as she threw Kyosuke across the road into a building, causing several soldiers to panic and flee. Getting up, Kyosuke decided that something was terribly wrong with Sakura, and that she needed his help, whether she wanted it or not.

Unfortunately, Chipp Zanuff stepped in the way as he got up, and hit him with an alpha blade. Chipp was feeling much better since the last section, and was ready to kick ass once again.

****

B.B Hood (MvC2)

__

Let's talk this over

It's not like we're dead

Was it something I did?

Was it something You said?

Don't leave me hanging

In a city so dead

Held up so high

On such a breakable thread

Heavy D! and Lucky both stared at Brian, who had selected the theme music for BB hood, as the young girl skipped merrily down to the ring.

"Avril Lavinge?" was all Lucky could get out.

"That's, it, your drunk, well, _more _drunk, anyway." Heavy D! muttered, his voice pure disgust.

Brian just smiled sagely, "Wait for it."

BB hood hummed a merry ditty as she stepped into the "Ring", her little puppy following close behind, butterflies floating around her. Even as she skipped up to Q, who had since thrown Li Xiangfei into Hinata and gotten them to fighting, Avril Lavinge continued to play.

__

You were everything, everything that I wanted

We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it

All of the memories, so close to me, just fade away

"Why Hello there Mr. masked man sir? Would you like an apple?" BB Hood gave a smiled that would give lesser men diabetes as she held out an apple. Q shrugged and took the apple, not noticing the lit fuse on it.

Three seconds and a large explosion later Q was on the ground, and Hood was on top of him, guns in hand, trying to turn Q into a human (?) slice of Swiss cheese.

__

All this time you were pretending

So much for my happy ending

****

Abandoned warehouse, near IGP arena

"Well isn't this nice?" Shang Tsung muttered as he observed the scene. The demon sorcerer had recently arrived on the scene, and the demonic hideout resembled nothing less of a war zone.

Shang Tsung had hoped to arrive earlier so he could forewarn his allies of Kikyo's recent recruitment. But between his meeting with the Orochi tribe and being a spectator to the misadventures of the covenant of seven he did not get the chance to tell the other demons of the current situation.

Which meant when Blackheart, Shuma Gorath, Kusaregedo and the Red Aremeer got back from their various errands, and found Kikyo, who had not 24 hours ago attacked them, the predictable occurred.

What was happening now was a traditional Mexican standoff. Kikyo stood with her back against a crate, a sacred arrow drawn in her bow as she nervously switched her target between Blackheart and Shuma Gorath. The smoldering remains of boxes indicated that Blackheart had been throwing dark lightning rather liberally, and the arrow holes in his hide indicated that he had gotten as much as he gave. He stood there, his hand charged with demonic electricity, flanked by Shuma Gorath, who glared menacingly at Kikyo and flicked his tentacles. Red Aremeer perched on the stacked boxes high above, content to watch the unfolding events with vague disinterest, as if something else was on his mind. In the shadows, Kusaregedo shuffled from side to side, obviously not caring who won as long as he got to eat the loser. Shang Tsung was unaware why Jedah and Asmodeus were absent (As well as there respective parties; Queen Bee had gone to fetch Jedah from the medical bay, and Al Rashid, Grendal and Ichiro Tsunami had met Taria half way to go get Deimos and the Executioner out of the slammer.) But honestly, he didn't give a rat's ass.

Shang's own subordinates, Kano and Reptile, both leaned against crates between the two warring factions and watched. Kano's good eye darted between the two as he wore a sinister leer, as if he was trying to make up his mind on which faction he wanted to back. Reptile was just waiting for his master to return so he could get a definite idea on how to handle things.

"Blackheart, Kikyo, stop!" Shang Tsung yelled as he stepped between the pair. Kikyo did not lower her bow, and Blackheart scowled. "Kikyo is on our side now."

"Are you mad? She attacked me!" Blackheart snarled, electricity coursing through his body, "She is dangerous, a loose cannon!"

"She's also the only one who can keep the half demon Inuyasha away from us." Shang Tsung calmly stated. "By now that mummified freak Jack should be returning from the medical bay, and soon he will bring us the Shikon Jewel. Which means having Kikyo around to dissuade the half demon and his friends is more important than ever."

The knowledge that the Shikon Jewel had been secured made Blackheart calm a bit, and he released his fist. "Very well Tsung, I will tolerate the priestess for now, but only under protest." The demon lord leaned forward, "And if you ever go behind my back like that again, I will tear you limb from limb."

"So, the Shikon Jewel, that's your goal aye demons?" a mysterious voice boomed from above, The demons and Kikyo watched as an orange cloaked strange dropped from the rafters, landing in the center of the room. "But know this, whatever intentions you had for the gem, forget them now, as I will not let you live long enough to enact them!"

Shuma Gorath whipped his tentacle against the floor in irritation, _And who are you to threaten us in such a bold manner? _The Lovecraftian fiend hissed. The stranger stripped his cloak away, revealing a ninja gi of the same orange as the cloak.

"I am Guy, the 39th master of Bushin style Ninjitsu. You and your kind are opposed to nature, and thus are opposed to Bushin. As such, I will not allow you or your evil to fester any more! Prepare to defend yourselves!"

Without a moments hesitation Guy Bushin ran at Blackheart and Shuma Gorath, who chuckled silently to himself.

__

Foolish human, why do they always come to die?

****

The Ring

Ness (SSBM)

Ness rubbed his stomach as he walked down to the "ring". He had been having stomachaches since he arrived in the IGP node yesterday. At first he thought it was something he ate, or that he was homesick, but after a phone-call home and some antacid failed to clear it up he began to suspect a sinister force manipulating the tournament.

Once he entered the "Ring", his stomachache got worse, Ness knew whatever was causing his bad vibe was approaching the ring and would be there soon. Till then, Ness decided to fight with BB Hood (And by fight, I mean run away while she shoots in random directions.)

****

Bridget (GGXX)

"Alright Roger" Bridget whispered to his teddy bear as he skipped down to the ring, "Once we get down there and show how tough we are, we'll prove I'm not unlucky and mom and dad will HAVE to let me act more manly!"

"Your Logic is sound Master Bridget," The robotic bear responded in a voice that seemed to sinister to come from something so sweet, "But may I please remind you that the competition in this tournament is unusually fierce, it may not be so easy to survive long."

Bridget laughed, "Oh come on, if that wannabe ninja Zanuff can do it so can I, all I have to do is not act too hasty."

Sound advice, until Bridget got an earful of the music the sports team had selected for him.

__

Love put me wise to her love in disguise

She had the body of a Venus

Lord imagine my surprise

Dude look like a lady

Dude look like a lady

Dude look like a lady

Dude look like a lady

What a funky lady

Bridget screamed in a way that most Metallica fans would find offensive and charged into the ring, wrapping his yo-yo around Chipp Zanuff's neck and slamming him up against a wall.

****

Room 444, IGP hotel

Leona groaned as she slowly returned to the conscious world. The young Ikari warrior attempted to move but found herself chained to a wall. Looming over her was someone that Leona prayed she would never see again.

"Goentiz", Leona hissed as she struggled against her chains. The Orochi general smiled at Leona and ran his fingers through her hair, which made her struggle more.

"Now hush my child, you'll need your energy, don't want to thrash around too much." Goentiz purred as he moved back, giving room for Orochimaru to come in.

"I wouldn't worry my dear, you have a good one in ten chance of surviving the procedure," Orochimaru said as he licked his lips with a tongue that looked better on a king cobra than a man, "and if you die, at least your suffering will be over…"

Leona struggled impotently as Orochimaru set to work, while Goentiz watched all the while.

****

IGP locker rooms

"Hey, are you alright?"

Lei-Lei shook her head as the world came back into focus. King, Mai and Hinako were perched over her. They were set to go on in a few sections and wanted to freshen up, and were surprised to find the young priestess unconcious on the floor covered in blood.

"Uh, what… where…" Suddenly Lei-Lei remembered what happened and leapt up.

"OH MY GOD! MY SISTER! WHERE IS SHE?" Lei-Lei looked around frantically as King tried to calm her down.

"Hey, relax, your sister is the zombie girl right? She's in the medical bay right now." King said in a reassuring tone. Lei-Lei bolted past the female team and down the hallway like a bat out of hell.

In the adjacent males locker room, Kevin Mask laced up his shoes, he was a bit surprised that Buffaloman, Starface, and even Warsman, his families long time ally, had been defeated with relative ease. But Kevin was certain that the new generation of Chojin fighters would break this trend. First Checkmate, then himself in the next section.

"Excuse me…"

Kevin looked up to see a sexy young woman with long pink hair standing across from him.

"Women's locker room is next door lady," Kevin snorted, "This is the men's side."

The woman smiled in a way that made Kevin feel uncomfortable, "That's alright, I can be in here." The woman chuckled to herself, as if she was making a joke only she got, "I'm Poison, manager of the HWA."

Kevin raised an eyebrow, "The HWA?"

Poison produced a light pink T-shirt emblazoned with the letters HWA, "The Huge Wrestling Army. I've heard you're a strong wrestler, and I want you to join."

"Sorry love," Kevin said as he got up, his voice riddled with contempt, "I already tried the evil organization membership thing, didn't like it. I'm flattered though. Try asking Eskara or Bone cold, they might be into that sort of thing."

Poison smiled wickedly, "Oh HUUUUUUGO!"

Kevin felt the earth shaking beneath his feet. At first he thought there was an earthquake, but that changed when he saw the single biggest wrestler he had ever seen in his life looming over him, a giant who dwarfed even Sunshine, the largest wrestler from Kevin's home node.

"This is Hugo, the top wrestler of the Huge Wrestling Army." Poison said, savoring the moment, "You see, I always get what I want, and I want you in the HWA. The only way you can get out of here without my shirt on your back is if you beat Hugo." Poison leaned forward and smirked, "So, you think you can manage it?"

Kevin looked at Poison, then at Hugo, the giant German snorted at Kevin, blowing him back a few feet. Kevin smiled.

"Alright, I'm game. I was hoping for a little workout before I fight next section anyway."

****

The Ring

Blue Mary Ryan (KOF 2k1)

__

She grew up in an indiana town

Had a good lookin' momma who never was around

But she grew up tall and she grew up right

With them indiana boys on an indiana night

Well she moved down here at the age of 18

She blew the boys away, it was more than they'd se en

I was introduced and we both started groovin'

She said, "i dig you baby but i got to keep movin'"

...on, keep movin' on

As Blue Mary walked down to the ring, she listened to the music the sports team had picked out for her. Smiling, she gave thumbs up to the drunken sport superstars, who gave her thumbs up back, and made it down into the "Ring".

__

Last dance with mary jane

One more time to kill the pain

I feel summer creepin' in and i'm

Tired of this town again

Once in the ring, Mary looked around the scene, then noticed Li Xiangfei fall at her feet, knocked down by Hinata. Mary groaned in annoyance and helped the Chinese girl to her feet.

"Honestly can't you go five minutes without humiliating yourself?" Mary muttered as Li pulled away, huffing indignantly.

"Hey, these guys are tougher than they look, and besides I haven't had anything to eat since I got in the ring, I'm hungry!"

As if on cue, a bazooka shell, courtesy of BB hood, whizzed passed the duo and hit a nearby truck, causing fruit and vegetables to scatter all around. Li's eyes lit up at the sight of this, and she ran towards the food. Mary smiled sadly, shrugged, and picked up a banana that had rolled to her feet. She then turned to find another fight.

****

Rock lee (N: NH2)

__

Risin' up -- back on the street,

Did my time, took my chances

Went the distance now i'm back on my feet

Just a man and his will to survive --

So many times, it happens too fast,

You trade your passion for glory,

Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past,

You must fight just to keep them alive

The azure beast of the hidden leaf cracked his knuckles as he stepped out to the ultimate underdog scrapper song. He had promised Neji he would watch out for Hinata in the ring, (And it was a good guy promise, so you knew he was gonna keep It.), So Lee wasted no time discarding his weights before heading down to the ring.

__

it's the eye of the tiger,

It's the thrill of the fight,

Rising up to the challenge of our rival,

And the last known survivor

Stalks his prey in the night,

And he's watching us all

With the eye of the tiger

****

Room 123, IGP hotel

Most of the hidden leaf Genin, the Ikari warriors, and Iori Yagami watched as Rock Lee took to the ring and proceeded to punt Bridget (who was menacing Hinata by the time he got into the ring,) around like a basketball. Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Jiraya and Kyo were not among them. They were sitting around a table, looking at the transmogrified Naruto.

"Cant he just use the art of transformation to make himself human again?" Sakura asked, leaning forward in her chair.

Sasuke shook his head, "No, he cant use any Justus because he doesn't have workable hands. So unless we manage to figure out some chicken based ninja arts he's stuck like this."

Jiraya let out a heavy sigh and leaned back in his chair, "What are we going to do now?"

"Ill tell you what were going to do," The ninjas and assorted heroes turned to see Chizuru Kagura standing in the doorway.

"Were going to stop sitting around watching TV and get to work. Goentiz has had the run of the place long enough, I think its time to show him we mean business."

Kyo and Iori looked at another and smiled. The assorted ninja's in attendance got up, most of them glad they were finally going to see some action.

Naruto, still a chicken, clucked irritably.

****

Backstage

Rock Howard put his change in the vending machine and pressed a button, he picked up his soda and sipped it, then sighed.

Rock had a lot on his mind. He had not seen hide or hair of his father since he had arrived, and he was starting to get miffed about it. Rock had never known anything about his father other than what Terry had told him. Although the young fighter knew his dad was no good, it didn't stop him from wanting to know him better.

"I see my brother in law is as attentive to you as he ever was." A voice from behind Rock announced, Rock crushed the soda can in his hand when he recognized it.

"Kain R. Heinlein," Rock muttered bitterly as he turned to his wicked uncle. Kain smirked evilly as he leaned against the wall adjacent to Rock, "What do you want?"

Kain shrugged, "Same as you I suppose, you want to see Geese Howard suffer for what he did to you, and to your mother," Rock's eyes narrowed, "And I want to make him pay as well. You're fighting in the same section correct?"

Rock didn't speak, he simply nodded.

"Good," Kain smirked, "All you have to do is eliminate him, and I can orchestrate the rest. What do you say nephew? You up to it?"

Rock didn't respond, he just turned and walked away, Kain frowned. Sensing this, Rock stopped walking.

"Listen 'uncle', I may be related to Geese, but that doesn't mean I'm anything like him. I was raised as a Bogard, and that's what I consider myself. And we Bogard's don't let other people fight our battles for us, and we certainly don't team up with criminal sleaze balls like yourself." Kain's frown turned into a scowl, Rock smiled, "Besides, If I was going to go teaming up with criminals I'd team up with my dad, not a second rate Geese wannabe like you." Rock chuckled to himself and started walking. Kain sighed.

"So that's your final answer then?" Kain muttered as he raised his hand and snapped his finger. Suddenly the wall next to rock exploded, knocking him to the ground. When the dust cleared, a huge man with a demonic looking red mask loomed over Rock.

Kain turned and walked away, "Sorry, but you went too far with that 'Geese wannabe' crack. Grant, Kill him."

Grant nodded to Kain as he rounded a corner, and reached down to grab Rock. As he hoisted the junior Howard up the possessed fighter heard something he wish he hadn't.

"_Kaiser… WAVE!"_

Both Grant and Rock went flying across the hall. (Kain was already long gone by this point, rejoining the party up in the SkyBox.) As Rock got up he saw his **other **uncle Wolfgang Krauser standing across from Grant, the two staring at one another intently.

"Your father would never forgive me if I let you get killed by this weakling." Krauser said, his eyes never leaving Grant, "Now you go get ready for your fight. I'll deal with this minor annoyance."

Grant growled at the obvious disrespect and tore into Krauser. Rock, not wanting to stick around to see who would win, turned a corner and headed for the locker room.

"Man, I really hate my family." The young Howard muttered to himself as the sound of cracking bones and war cries echoed through the hallway.

****

The Ring

Sasquatch (DS3)

The huge and lovable king of the far north bounded down to the ring, grinning and pumping his fists. As he did the females in the audience went totally nuts over the adorable monster. In the central office, Crinos decided merchandising would be a prudent business venture as far as Sasquatch was concerned.

Once he entered the "Ring", Sasquatch was approached by Ness, who smiled and waved at the giant.

"Hello there big guy," Ness said politely, "Are you getting a wicked vibe from this place as well?"

"Chuffle!" Sasquatch replied. Ness nodded sagely, "yeah, me too. So how's things with you?"

"Chuffle!" Sasquatch said.

Ness nodded again, "I understand, I didn't know that Yeti ate bananas. Ill have to tell my friend Jeff."

BB Hood watched the exchange, then decided she had seen stranger things in her life, and decided to break up to monotony by opening fire on the two. The two fighters ran down the street to escape the barrage.

****

Cy-5 (WG)

"WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GODS SUCK!"

Cy-5 ignored the jeering of the crowd as he took to the ring. As he stepped onto the site of the war torn city, the cyborg made a scan of the surrounding area, coming to the conclusion that he was the only war god in the ring currently, and that the other fighters were non gods, and thus not a threat.

When Kyosuke casually swatted Cy-5 out of the way as he fought a running battle with Chipp Zanuff, Cy-5 decided to rethink his assessment.

****

Checkmate (GWFUM)

The chess themed Chojin stepped onto the ramp in a stately manner. Waving to the crowd as he made his way down to the ring. Thusfar, he had not been impressed with the performance of the other galactic wrestlers who had entered the ring before him, but he simply attributed this to the fact they were older wrestlers. What this tournament called for were younger fighters, with fire and passion, like himself.

Upon entering the ring, Rock scooped up Rock Lee and slammed him into the mat. The irritated ninja retaliated by sending him airborne with a lightning fast kick. In midair, Checkmate pushed a button on his right shoulder and switched his head with the tower on his right arm. Transforming into a giant tower. He planned on crushing Rock Lee on his descent, but only succeeded in getting sent flying across the landscape by another strike from the young ninja.

At this point, Checkmate decided to start looking into health insurance.

****

IGP hotel, room 789

Faust knocked on the door, waited, then knocked again. He tapped his foot and looked at his watch, then knocked again.

"Hello?" Faust yelled, "Kodachi Kuno? Tatewaki? Anybody? I come in peace!"

The devil doctor received no response for his yelling, only more silence.

"Something's wrong." Faust muttered, stating the painful obvious. Faust kicked in the door and stepped into the hotel. A scene of slaughter awaited him.

The room was covered with blood, how one human could produce so much was a mystery even to Faust. On the floor, a badly carved up Tatewaki Kuno lay, close to death. On the bed behind the unconcious Kuno sat Genjuro, his sword coated in blood, Kodachi unconcious behind him.

(It also became apparent to the author at that point that he could not write Genjuro and Haohmaru the way they are normally written in other votefics of this nature, therefore he was no longer going to even attempt to do so. Don't like it? Go watch anime.)

"Welcome." The evil samurai said, licking some blood off his sword.

Faust did not respond to Genjuro, he simply walked over to Kuno and crouched down, examining the young boy.

"Wow, you sure did a number on him," Faust muttered as he pulled gauze and scissors from his bag, "I'm surprised he's even alive after all this."

Genjuro shrugged, "he had it coming. Real mouth on him. He actually had the audacity to think I was working for this Saotome kid. Can you believe it?"

Faust did not look up as he wrapped up Kuno, "At any rate, he wont be in any shape to fight in the tournament. No great loss I suppose, the fighters from Saotome's clique don't seem to be doing to well anyway."

Genjuro nodded, "Yeah, I wonder why Maximov is interested in these four women anyway, seems kind of silly to me." Genjuro suddenly noticed something odd, "You know, it's kinda creepy."

Faust looked up at Genjuro, "What is?"

"You are!" Genjuro said, pointing at the doctor, "most of the time when people come in on me after I do something like this there either shocked, enraged, or deeply impressed. But you act like its no big deal."

Faust stood up and pulled out his giant scalpel. "It isn't a big deal. I'm not impressed because from what I've heard from Saotome beating up Tatewaki Kuno is insultingly easy. I'm not shocked because, as a doctor and former serial killer, I've seen and participated in scenes far more gruesome than this."

Genjuro stood up and rested his sword on his shoulder, "And what about anger, why aren't you angry?"

Faust glared at Genjuro and pointed his scalpel at Genjuro. "Who said I'm not angry? I'm just good at hiding it. And now that Kuno taken care of," Faust leaned forward, "Its time for _your _checkup."

Genjuro leaped back and assumed a fighting stance, Faust hunched down into his fighting stance as well, and Genjuro smiled to himself as the two circled one another. It was all going according to plan.

****

Retrieval room

Naraku snarled to himself as he stepped through the rooms of the medical lab. He should have known that taking the Shikon jewel into the ring with him was a bad move. Hopefully his hastily made contingency plans would hold through and allow him to get back what was taken from him.

Naraku was so deep in thought he failed to watch where he was going, and accidentally bumped into someone.

"OOF… Oh, so sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was…"

"…Naraku…"

Naraku gulped, he knew that voice anywhere. Looking up, he saw Inuyasha looming over him, an uncharacteristically evil smile on his face. Behind him, Sango and Miroku stood weapons in hand. Behind them, Kilala snarled and bared her fangs, while Kagome aimed a sacred arrow. (Shippo was not present, as he was still in the medical bay.)

Naraku looked at the group, smiled nervously, and took off running. Inuyasha's group taking chase. As the groups fled down the halls, Jack exited the medical lab, ogling the Shikon jewel as he tried to remember the directions Shang Tsung had given him.

****

The Ring

Veemon (DRA)

Veemon and his Digidestined partner Davis stepped out into the arena, both pumping their fists in the air. Halfway down, Davis pulled out a mike and addressed the cheering crowd.

"Bet you folks are tired of regular digivolving right?" Davis asked the crowd, their response prompted Washuu to want to invent a new way to measure decibels.

"Bet you guys want to see something fresh!" Veemon said, the crowd continued cheering.

Davis looked down at Veemon. "You ready?"

"You bet Davis!" Veemon cheered. Davis smiled and pulled out his D-3.

"DIGI ARMOR ENERGIZE!" Davis yelled. One energy cocoon and a red egg later and Veemon had transformed into a large blue humanoid with red armor.

"Flamedramon, the fire of courage!" The new creature said proudly.

Davis and Flamedramon entered the ring, where Flamedramon was promptly knocked flat on his ass by Q.

****

Master Higgins (DMTV: WF)

__

The boys in the jungle had me on the run

When something heavy hit me like an atomic bomb

When I woke up and my head started to clear

I had a strange feeling I was cooking gear

I smelled something cooking and I looked to see

That's when I found out they was cookin' me

Ooga booga, lemme outta here!

As it turns out, the crowd gave neither a rat, an ass, nor any combination of the above for Davis of Veemon. The cheering they heard was simply a warm up for the massive cheering they were going to give Master Higgins as he rode a skateboard down to the ring. Reaching the ring itself, Higgins leapt off his board and into the battlefield, bringing a hail of stone axes with him as he did. One of the axes, hit Cy-5, causing him to begin to sputter electricity. This made Higgins smile.

****

Slash (WW7)

The young demon hunter had planned a huge entrance, but realizing he couldn't possibly top Higgins entrance, he decided not to bother. He simply summoned his plasma sword and entered the ring quietly. He then promptly started carving into Sasquatch, who reminded him too much of that pest Mauru.

__

My victims are rich or poor, young or old, strong or weak

I cause millions of accidents, I am cancer in your bones

I fathered the lie, twist what you say, speak not the truth

I am insidious, impartial, deep inside your chromosomes

Slash suddenly stopped, he sensed something foul in the air, as if something evil was coming. This moment of indecisiveness gave Sasquatch ample time to eat him.

_I take what you love, and leave you in tears_

I imprison your soul, your hopes are my games

I strip you of pride, my promise is in vain

While you burn at the stake I dance with the flames

Ness, who was currently in a yo-yo duel with Bridget, suddenly felt like throwing up, it was as if whatever was aggravating his stomach condition was getting worse. Looking down, he saw a strange symbol, similar to a pentagram, start taking form on the ground beneath him.

"Uh oh," the young psychic muttered.

__

I bring poverty, sickness and death

A worthless handshake, the slickest thief, I steal your wealth

I answer your prayers for greed and lust

More than evil, I laugh at your trust

Dark Sakura threw Demitri across the street, then noticed the dark energy beginning to come forth from beneath her. Looking down, she saw as the pentagram continued to form.

Normally, a demonic looking pentagram from nowhere would be cause for concern from the young Shotokan, but all she felt was excitement.

"At last," Sakura said, cracking her knuckles, "A worthy challenge."

__

I am more powerful than all the armies of the world

I am more violent than violence, more deadly than death

I have destroyed more men than all the nation's wars

I am relentless, unpredictable, waiting for your last breath

Hinata, who was at this point dodging BB Hood's bullets while Rock Lee bounced Checkmate around like a ping pong ball, was not ignorant of the demonic presence beneath her. Thanks to her Byakhyugan she could evade Hood's gunfire and watch the pentagram like symbol finish completion at once. Which meant when she saw it begin to glow with a demonic light, she was the one who sounded the warning alarm.

"EVERYONE MOVE NOW!" The Ninja yelled as she took off. Most of the fighters followed her advice and move away; Q and Demitri slinked into alleyways, Sakura and Higgen's backed up to face the threat head on, while Kyosuke and Sasquatch just ran.

BB Hood was not paying attention to Hinata, and if she was she wouldn't have given a damn anyway. Which meant she was standing on top of the pentacle when the fourth mystery fighter made his grand entrance…

****

Asmodeus (M:TDA)

__

My kingdom corrupt with dissent

Your sins erupt by my intent

I loathe your prayer, I wallow in sin

Let the nightmare begin

Prince of darkness, your satanic highness

Prince of darkness, the devilish serpent, the dreaded Lucifer

Prince of darkness

Everyone stared in awe at the…thing which had emerged from the portal. It was easily the largest creature that had been in the ring up to this point. A humongous four armed demon with red scales and sharp teeth. Many of the more canny fighters noted that he his lower half was still anchored beneath the portal, which considering how big his upper torso was, could probably be considered a good thing.

BB Hood struggled in vain, she had been scooped up by Asmodeus as the demon made his grand entrance and was now desperately hacking at the beasts arms in an attempt to make him let go of her. The demon glared at Hood, lifted her up, and got ready to bite her head off. BB closed her eyes, expecting the worst.

****

Clank

Asmodeus howled in inhuman agony as he swung around BB Hood. The young mercenary took advantage of the beast's distraction to shimmy out of his grip. Landing on the ground, he saw the reason why she had not been eaten.

A round shield with red and blue circles adorning it, a white star in the middle. Hood picked it up and examined it, then realized from her dossier who its owner was: the final fighter of this section…

****

Captain America (MvC2)

Captain America ran down to the ring, he had planned to shake some hands on the way down, but with a child eating demon in the ring he couldn't be idle. As per his request, the Star Spangled Banner played him down to the ring.

Until the sports team got a better idea.

Cap stopped as he heard a loud screeching from the speakers, the music had stopped, and new music was playing.

__

America, America

In the central office, Crinos and Washuu looked at each other.

"They didn't…" Washuu whispered.

Crinos shook his head and fought back a laugh, "They did."

__

America, Fuck Yeah!

Coming again to save the mutherfucking day yeah

America, Fuck Yeah!

Freedom is the only way, yeah

Terrorist your game is through, now you have to answer to

America, Fuck Yeah!

So lick my butt, and suck on my balls

America, Fuck Yeah!

Whatcha going to do when we come for you now?

Cap stared up at the sound booth, and got big thumbs up from the now very drunken sports team. The avenger just shook his head and went into the ring, there was nothing he could do at the moment, but he would have to remember to give those three a stern talking too when he was done in the ring.

Once in the Ring, Cap scooped up his shield and stood before Asmodeus, Dark Sakura and BB hood on his flank. On either side of the giant demon Bridget and Ness readied their yo-yo's for action. From behind a newly regurgitated and defrosted Slash readied his blade to take a slice out of the demon.

Asmodeus looked at the multitude of fighters now surrounding him, and he laughed.

****

"Foolish mortals," The demon rumbled, smashing a nearby building to pieces and scattering Dim sum all over the place, (Which brought Li Xiangfei over in a stampede) **"You will all fall to Asmodeus."**

Captain America clenched his fist. "Not likely."

In the seats, John Crawley watched the fight with excitement. An all American himself, seeing Captain America in the ring made him reminisce about his old army days and wish he hadn't turned down that mission to save tweeter.

It was then that John noticed a tiny piece of metal near his foot. Tentatively, he picked it up and looked it over. Then shrugged and put it in his pocket. He assumed that it chipped off one of the bio freaks that had been skewered earlier when Jedah was tearing up the stands. If nothing else, he could at least sell it on E-bay for a few bucks.

Little did John Crawley know that a shard of the soul edge was now resting in his pocket, giving off a soft hum that could only be heard by the dammed

THE MULTIVERSE IS THE RING

THE PRIZE IS ULTIMATE POWER

AND THE US SPORTS TEAM IS RUNNING THE SOUND BOOTH. (Be afraid, be very afraid)


	12. Section 4 Results

****

IGP Central office

Crinos watched the screen as the fighters in the arena fled as Asmodeus stormed through the streets. He strummed his fingers on his table and sighed.

"Washuu, this is taking way too long." Crinos muttered.

Washuu looked up from her monitor in curiosity"Uh, what is"

"This tournament, with only twenty fighters per section it will take us a week to get through them all."

"Well, I told you not to add those fifty new guys from the Digimon and Galactic wrestling node."

"No you didn't."

"Well I was thinking it…"

"Alright" Crinos said, standing"Call the boys up, were gonna change a few things round here."

Washuu looked at Crinos"What boys"

"Don't ruin my moment Washuu."

****

IGP: The infinity Grand prix

Section four results

The ring

B.B hood stepped backwards as she leveled her machine guns at Asmodeus. Right besides her Master Higgins threw stone axe after stone axe, apparently pulling them out of mid-air. They may as well have been throwing popcorn at the giant demon because their projectiles were simply bouncing off the fiend like he was made of rubble. Desperate, Hood dropped her guns into her basket and lifted it up, taking aim at the demon.

"Eat this you scaly bastard" the young bounty hunter hissed as she fired a small missile at Asmodeus, the projectile struck the demon, forcing him back but not doing any realistic damage.

Captain America stared in disbelief as he helped a tied up POW free from his bondage, grateful, the former prisoner presented Cap with a heavy machine gun before taking off for the hills. "Where did you get those weapons" The Avenger asked in astonishment.

Hood shrugged"Black market."

Cap sighed heavily"A kid your age shouldn't even know what a black market is, the worlds going to hell in a hand basket."

"**So true…" **Asmodeus hissed as he slammed a fist into the ground. The resulting shock wave knocked down the three fighters as the giant demon lumbered forwards. Cap lifted his shield just in time as Asmodeus brought his fist down again. Cap nearly buckled under the force of the attack, but thanks to the shield he got through the assault with his spine intact. Asmodeus smiled and lifted his hand again to smash the Avenger. Cap closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

An unearthly scream caused Cap's eyes to open in amazement. Looking up he saw only a smoldering stump where the demon's arm was. Standing in front of him was Slash, his blade ready.

"You okay sir" Slash asked, not turning around to face Cap, but rather keeping all his attention focused on Asmodeus. Cap stood up, smiled and nodded. Asmodeus roared at anger and swung again, this time at Slash.

Slash vanished moments before the fist struck. Slash reappeared in front of Asmodeus. A few rapid strikes with his plasma blade later and Asmodeus was in pieces. The parts of the demon lord fell through the portal he originally emerged from. The portal promptly closed behind it, leaving Slash time to strike a cool pose.

A loud shot rang out through the street shortly afterward. Cap and Slash turned to see B.B hood standing over the prone of body of master Higgins, blood pooling on the ground as the island hero vanished in a bright light. Cap aimed his machine gun at the girl, who aimed her machine guns right back.

Slash decided to go sneak off somewhere and hide out for the rest of the section.

Elsewhere, Li Xiangfei was on her eighth bowl of dim sum. The young queen of fighters had been so enamored with her favorite snack that she had never even noticed Asmodeus get into the ring much less his prompt elimination. She was, as usual, too busy eating.

Blue Mary Ryan would have loved to take advantage of her friends Idleness in fighting, but she was far too busy at the moment for such things. Namely she was busy trying to keep herself from being clobbered by a giant yeti and a cyborg. But she kept an eye on Li anyway, planning on getting an easy elimination by crushing the young Chinese girl.

Not that she wasn't paying attention to Sasquatch and Cy-5 by any stretch: seeing another banana on the ground, she picked it up and threw it over Sasquatch's head, prompting the Darkstalker to give chase to the fruit. Which in turn gave Mary the opening to snap Cy-5's neck with her patented M. Dynamite swing, eliminating the War god.

With all current enemies dispatched, Blue Mary proceeded over to Li Xiangfei with intent to maim. Li was still oblivious however, and was currently on her fifteenth bowl of dim sum. Once she finished that bowl however, something bizarre happened. Blue Mary watched in shock as Xiangfei suddenly gained five hundred pounds of blubber out of nowhere. Turning into a bloated sphere shaped version of herself.

Li looked at herself and shrugged. "Usually this doesn't happen until I've had fifty servings." Xiangfei mused to herself as she continued eating, now stuffing entire bowls into her mouth.

"What kind of tournament IS this" Blue Mary asked the world at large before smashing Li upside the head with an empty trashcan.

****

Abandoned warehouse

Guy was in over his head, and he knew it. But with no other allies on hand and demons afoot the Bushin master knew that desperate times called for desperate measures.

Guy ducked under a dark lightning as he charged towards Blackheart, jump kicking the demon lord and sending him sprawling. The Bushin master landed just in time that to duck a sacred arrow courtesy of Kikyo, who received a sweeping kick that sent her down for her troubles.

Guy didn't have time to rest. Shang Tsung, assuming the form of his former pupil Goro, loomed over Guy. The wizard brought down a massive fist on the Bushin master, who rolled out of the way. Guy rose and dodged more fists from Shang Tsung, who pushed Guy backwards.

Red Aremeer decided to finally involve himself in the fight at this point. Hovering in midair, the demon swooped down at Guy, planning to tear him in two with his hell hunter. Guy ducked down at the last second, causing Aremeer to crash into Shang Tsung, dropping the wizard and forcing him back into his proper form.

Before Guy could even catch his breath, a large green ball, Shuma Gorath, bounded towards him. Guy spun and kicked the demon like a soccer ball, sending him flying at a stack of crates, prompting them to fall on Kikyo, Blackheart, Shang Tsung and the Red Aremeer. Burying the fiends in debris.

Guy gasped for air and stumbled back, now that most of the heavy hitters were down he might stand a chance, all that were left were Shang Tsung's minions and the giant Gaki…

Before Guy could finish his thought an invisible force pounded away at the orange ninja. Guy struck at the empty space, revealing Reptile standing before him. Guy cursed his sloppiness and rolled away from the reptilian ninja. Getting up, Guy turned to see Kano, in cannonball form, rolling at him. Guy ducked quickly as the criminal sailed over him, striking Reptile by accident and wrapping the two villains up.

Guy kneeled down and breathed deeply. He had almost finished, there was only one enemy left…

Guy sensed something beneath him but was too fatigued to act surprised much less dodge. A huge number of hands rose from the ground and held him fast. Guy struggled at the hands as Kusaregedo emerged from the shadows, lunging at Guy with the broken bone on his arm.

Two inches and Guy would have been dead. But he had managed wrench himself from the hands coming from the ground just enough so that while Kusaregedo had impaled the Bushin master, he had failed to hit any vital organs. Kusaregedo leered at Guy and reached at him with his good hand, planning on tearing him apart and eating him bit by bit. Thinking quickly Guy broke free from the rest of the hands and, using the bone in his shoulder as leverage, he kicked the giant Gaki in the face with both feet. Then pushed away from the giant, breaking the bone off as he did and leaving it embedded in his shoulder.

Guy's vision began to blur as he stumbled back, looking around he saw his enemies had regrouped and now surrounded him. Blackheart clenched his fists and glared as he and Kikyo walked towards him. Shang Tsung accompanied them, now morphed into the likeness of the Shokan warrior Kintaro as Red Aremeer hovered overhead, accompanied by a pair of cloaked imps. Shuma Gorath, Kano and Reptile also closed in, ready to tear Guy apart.

Guy sighed, the mission was a bust, and there was no denying that. But fortunately he had prepared for such inevitability. Reaching into his vest, Guy pulled out a small packet. Reptile recognized the object, but could not react in time as Guy threw it down, engulfing the warehouse in thick smoke. When the smoke cleared, guy was gone. Only some blood and the rest of Kusaregedo's bone giving any evidence of the Bushin master's presence there.

"Reptile" Shang Tsung beckoned to his servant as he returned to human form. "Find that ninja and take care of him." Reptile bowed and vanished into the shadows as the demons went to the task of regaining his wits and preparing for the arrival of the Shikon Jewel.

Outside, Guy stumbled through the alleyways, holding the gaping hole in his chest in an attempt to stop the blood loss. As he ran, he noticed Jack shambling through the alleyway, on his way to deliver the Shikon jewel. Thinking quickly, Guy changed his direction slightly and crashed into Jack, knocking him down.

"Sorry… about that…" Guy said, half conscious from the blood loss as he continued on his way. As Jack got back up he made a note to stab that guy the next time he saw him and continued on the way to the abandoned warehouse, unaware he was no longer carrying the Shikon Jewel.

****

The Ring

Hinata Hyuuga stepped to the side as a yo-yo whirred past her. Bridget, not to be undaunted, fired another yo-yo, which Hinata dodged as she closed in on the bounty hunter, even as he threw a third yo-yo. By the time Hinata was in striking distance of Bridget, she noticed the bounty hunter was now smiling.

Thanks to the Byakhyugan, Hinata knew why Bridget was smiling: the yo-yo's that Bridget had thrown were coming back, and they had assembled themselves into a teddy bear riding a tricycle on fire.

The sheer absurdity of this was enough to distract Hinata long enough for it to hit her, sending her flying into the air. Bridget sent another yo-yo up into the air, planning to wrap up Hinata and send her into deep space. Bridget smiled as his yo-yo found its target and wrapped around…

… A log

In the stands, Galford laughed his ass off. "Oh man, I love that trick" The American ninja said, leaning over to Hanzo, who snickered a bit in spite of himself.

Hinata was not gone long, the female ninja reappeared in front of Bridget and delivered a few feather light blows to the bounty hunters chest. A few seconds later Bridget fell to his knees, spitting up blood.

"Your not half bad…" Bridget muttered as she tried futilely to stand, he organs feeling like they had been tied up into knots. Hinata blushed a bit at the compliment, not noticing the yo-yo Bridget had behind her, ready to throw.

What Hinata did notice was Rock Lee, who was in the air kicking Checkmate around. The Chojin, still in his tower form, was currently being punted around the city like a large stone hockey puck, and was currently sailing towards Hinata and Bridget. The two warriors scrambled out of the way as the large stone warrior slammed into the ground, tearing up pavement.

Down the street a ways, Captain America and B.B Hood continued pointing their guns at one another, then Hood realized something she remembered from her dossier.

"Your not going to shoot me are you" the young bounty hunter said aloud, barely containing her amusement. Cap let out a sigh and discarded the gun.

"I don't care if you psychotic or evil or what, I cant shoot a little kid." Cap said flatly.

BB Hood laughed and squeezed the trigger of her Uzi, as the lead flew at Cap the Avenger lifted his shield, causing Hood's bullets to ricochet back at her, one of them grazing her leg.

"But technically…" Cap stated confidently as Hood crouched down screaming"THAT wasn't shooting you."

Cap's quip was rudely interrupted when an overweight Chinese girl was flung into him, knocking him to the ground. "My bad! Sorry" Blue Mary yelled before being eaten by Sasquatch and spit out as an ice cube.

Cap was up almost instantly, dazed but otherwise fine. Li Xiangfei was not up so fast, being slowed down by her newly gained girth. Cap, ever the gentlemen, decided to help the overweight Queen of fighting up before resuming the battle. Once Xiangfei was up, she thanked Cap for his help by slamming a nanpa into the avenger's chest, knocking him back. Cap recovered quickly and retaliated with a charging star. Due to her new weight, Li Xiangfei was staggered by the attack and could not recover in time to fend off Cap's next attack: The final justice. Once Cap finished the combo attack, Xiangfei fell down, passed out, and vanished.

Cap sighed a bit, then saw a bullet whiz by his head, looking back he saw BB Hood was back on her feet, and as mad as hell. Cap shrugged grimly and ran off in the opposite direction, not out of fear but rather because he did not wish to fight a child, no matter how psychotic. Fortunately the chase did not last long as a shadowy figure grabbed BB Hood and dragged her into the shadows. When Cap noticed the hail of bullets had ceased, he had no idea why.

In a dark alley adjacent to the street the fighters were currently fighting on, Demitri Maximov pinned BB Hood against a wall.

"You want to make a little money" The vampire lord asked.

The bounty hunter stopped struggling against the bloodsucker and smiled.

"Sure, we all do."

Demitri smiled"Good, when you get eliminated, I want you to go meet up with a samurai named Genjuro, and I want you and him to acquire the services of a certain fighter."

"Which fighter"

Maximov smirked"A Bowser Koopa. Giant turtle, kinda hard to miss, tell him I have a job for him."

"So what's the caper"

Before Maximov could say, a second shadowy figure grabbed the vampire from behind and sent him flying with a punch. Tentatively, BB Hood opened fire on the figure, only to watch as her bullets bounced off the figure body as he drew closer.

Outside the alleyway Flamedramon and Kyosuke were trading blows as Davis watched on, cheering on his Digimon partner. The cheering ceased with Demitri fell from the sky and onto Kyosuke. Getting up, the Vampire lord noticed that the Digimon was now in an attack stance. Demitri raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"What" The vampire lord asked flatly.

"You don't fool me Myotismon" Flamedramon hissed. Demitri blinked in disbelief.

"Excuse me? I think you have me confused with someone else and…"

"You can't fool us" Davis butted in, holding out his Digivice"I don't know how you came back, but so long as I have the power to believe in my dreams you will never win."

Demitri blinked yet again. Stared at Davis and Flamedramon, realized the pair were pissing him off, and promptly blew the two away with a vampire rage fireball.

Up in the central office, Crinos and Washuu stared in disbelief.

"Alright, new rule. Digimon are the only ones who go in. Digidestined and tamers stay outside." Crinos said flatly.

"Duly noted. Incidentally, two guys are fighting in the back." Washuu said, directed Crinos' attention to security camera feed showing Grant and Wolfgang Krauser kicking the crap out of one another. Crinos shrugged.

"Have Vash and Knives go down there and…"

"They already did, tried to break it up, got messed up pretty bad. Then Wolfwood and Legato got there and they got trashed."

Crinos stared at Washuu for a second"So we have no security"

Washuu shrugged"I'm afraid not. What do we do"

Crinos considered, then got an idea.

"Get me a phone, I've got some people to call."

****

Backstage

"We've been walking around for like an hour now" Yahiko Myojin, student of the Kamiya Kashin style muttered under his breath as he, Kaoru Kamiya and Sannoske Sagara wandered through the hallways backstage. "Are you sure this is the way to the eliminated seating"

Kaoru shrugged"How should I know? I was following Sannoske."

Sannoske stopped walking and looked at Kaoru"I was following you"

Yahiko snickered as Kaoru turned beet red with embarrassment"Serves you right for following Sannoske Kaoru."

Kaoru and Sannoske glared at Yahiko"What's that supposed to mean kid"

"DON'T CALL ME A KID"

And lo, another argument between the members of Kenshin's group was under way. So loud was the arguing that the three fighters did not hear the very loud crashing that was coming down the hallway.

If Sannoske had heard it, he might have been able to avoid Grant, who bowled over the former fighter for hire courtesy of Wolfgang Krauser, who was close behind. Grant rose instantly and charged at the German giant with intent to maim, while Kaoru and Yahiko grabbed the dizzied Sanoske and dragged him down a side hall to safety.

Once Sano had regained consciousness he, Kaoru and Yahiko peered around the corner to watch the ensuing fight. The two giants were definitely putting on an amazing show.

Grant charged at Krauser, his fists flowing with an unhealthy purple energy, but Krauser saw it coming and grabbed the Martyr of might out of his charge, using the momentum to intensify the force of the ensuing suplex. Grant was up as quickly as Krauser, and charged again. Krauser didn't bother with a counter this time, instead he charged right back, the two SNK bosses got in close together and began to trade blows with one another, neither one even bothering to block.

"Those two are way strong" Sannoske said, sweating bullets"I think they may be stronger than Kenshin."

"Your crazy" Yahiko added"Nobody's stronger than Kenshin."

"No Yahiko" Kaoru said gravely"I think Sano is right, the aura coming off those two is massive, its more powerful than anything I've ever felt."

Yahiko gulped nervously as he turned his attention back to the fight, deep down he really hoped Sano and Kaoru were wrong.

Krauser and Grant had ceased punching one another, and were now engaged in a grapple, sweat glistened off the two muscular giants as they struggled for dominance.

Eagle, who was walking by heading for the waiting room for the next section, whistled at the pair. The smoldering gazes he got from the pair made him grateful they were otherwise preoccupied.

Krauser grunted as Grant slowly began to gain the upper hand. Krauser realized then and there that he would have to end the fight immediately if he wanted to get out of it alive, and that meant using his head.

Rearing back, Krauser slammed his forehead into Grants, causing the martyr of might's neck to snap back like a rubber band. Krauser repeated the action again and again, each time Grants grip slacked a bit more.

After the eight such head butt, Grant let go of Krauser and fell to his Knees, his red mask cracked nearly in half. Smiling, Krauser stepped back and stretched his arms out.

"Kaiser…"

Kaoru, Sano and Yahiko felt Krauser's aura flare up and promptly ran out of the way of the fallout.

"…WAVE"

A flash of light later and Grant was through the wall adjacent to the corner the Kenshin group was peeking over. Krauser smirked smugly as he walked over, unzipped his pants, and proceeded to pee on Grant.

"Is that really necessary" Sano said, calmly walking over to Krauser.

Krauser didn't turn to Sannoske"He's lucky I let him live. If I had put all my power behind that Kaiser Wave he wouldn't have a head right now. Anyway he started it, attacked my nephew."

Sannoske looked over Grant, who only twitched sporadically. "You really messed him up."

"Not really, you should see the guys down the hall who got in our way earlier, THOSE guys I messed up."

"We should fight sometimes" Sano clenched his fist"Just so I know how I measure up against a guy like you."

Krauser looked at Sano and smiled, which kinda freaked out Yahiko and Kaoru"You're my kind of guy, what's your name?

"Sannoske Sagara."

"Wolfgang Krauser." Krauser gave a nod"I look forward to fighting you sometime."

"Likewise, by the way, were looking for our friend Kenshin, have you seen him"

Krauser thought about it"The scrawny red headed swordsman right? Yes, he left the eliminated section with a purple haired woman, about your young friend's age. A demon of some variety if I'm not mistaken. Said something about finding a blacksmith at the Hot Springs."

Sano smiled"Thanks a lot, see you later."

Krauser nodded and walked off in the opposite direction. As Kaoru, Yahiko and Sano turned to leave Yahiko noticed something glittering on the ground, reaching down to pick it up Yahiko examined the small piece of strange material…

Which was promptly snatched from his hands by Morrigan Aensland, who looked the soul edge piece over in her hand.

"This is no good for you kid." Morrigan said as she slipped the soul edge piece down her front. Yahiko would have protested being called a kid but was too dumbstruck by Morrigan's beauty to say anything.

"I know you" Kaoru said as she and Sano turned back to face Morrigan"You're the fighter who eliminated Kenshin."

"Indeed I am, and the girl he is with is my little sister. If you want to find them I can help."

Sano and Kaoru looked at each other warily, then Kaoru nodded.

"Alright, you can come along, which way" the swords-woman said.

Morrigan smiled"Follow me."

As Morrigan and Kenshin's group continued on their way to Kenshin, they were ignorant of Nightmare, who had been watching them from the janitor's closet. The possessed swordsman growled angrily as he followed after the group.

****

The Ring

Bridget coughed as she got up from the wreckage made by Checkmates fall from the sky. Looking around she saw that Checkmate had reverted to his true form, the Chojin bent over rubbing his head. Hinata and Rock Lee were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey watch where you land next time" Bridget scolded"You almost killed me."

Checkmate looked over to Bridget"Terribly sorry ma'am, It shant happen again."

Bridget sighed"How many times must I say it, I'm a boy! A BOY"

Checkmate smiled wryly"'Tis not what the Gamefaqs forms said."

Bridget's eye twitched, and the bounty hunter charged Checkmate in a rage, yo-yo's flailing. Up in the central office Washuu looked at Crinos, who smiled wryly.

"Hey, it's better than what I thought about her…"

In the green room Kim Kaphwan watched the fight with curiosity. "Why does that girl keep saying she's a boy? Very odd."

"Uh Kim" Jhun Hoon replied"I think he's really a male."

"Don't be absurd! The Internet people at that site said she's a girl, and information on the internet couldn't possibly be wrong" Kim said with sincerity.

At this point, Jhun's head exploded. Kim blinked, May Lee sighed.

"Damnit, not again"

But enough of that, back to the ring.

After seeing Veemon incinerated, Kyosuke decided it might be prudent to run and hide. Unfortunately, he accidentally ran into Q, who greeted him with a punch to the gut and a slam that knocked him against the ground so hard he bounced up in the air. Kyosuke came back down on his head, snapping his neck and eliminating him.

Sakura, who was currently pounding on Ness's psychic barrier, sensed Kyosuke's elimination. The young Shotokan made a note to hunt down whoever eliminated him and tear him limb from limb. (She's still in killing intent remembering?)

Demitri, who was still pissed off from earlier, noticed Q and threw a chaos flare at the cyborg. The blast glanced off Q's chest without affecting him. Maximov clenched his fist and motioned for Q to come over. The cyborg nodded and dash punched at Maximov.

Up on the rooftops, Hinata and Rock Lee watched the fighting below, taking note of Bridget and Checkmate, who were pounding the crap out of one another.

"Those guys again" Hinata offered?

Rock smiled and nodded"Lets get em, you take the girl and I'll take the chess guy."

The two leaf ninja leapt down onto the fight. Bridget, too busy beating on Checkmate with her Yo-yo's to notice Hinata, was unable to block her attacks. This time the pain was too much for the cross dressing mercenary, causing her to fall over unconcious and vanish into elimination.

Rock Lee was not so lucky, Checkmate had assumed his tower form in order to better weather his enemies blows (Not that he felt them anyway; thanks to Sunshine he was incapable of feeling physical pain) and this time he noticed Rock Lee before he could attack.

When Rock struck with a spinning jump kick, Checkmate's upper half disconnected from his lower half, causing Rocks leg to sail into the empty space between them. A split second later the two halves slammed back together onto Rock Lee's leg. To his credit the Azure beast did not scream out in pain, but a loud snapping alerted Rock and Hinata to the fact his leg was now broken.

But before they could react, Checkmate pressed another button on his costume, morphing into his centaur form. With a swift kick from his rear, Rock Lee was airborne and set up for the Pile driver stallion style.

Unfortunately for Checkmate, Rock chose that particular moment to open his gates. When Checkmate leapt up to finish the pile driver, he was instead treated to the initial lotus.

Hinata leapt out of the way of the Initial lotus, which caused a massive explosion, which cracked the earth. When the smoke cleared, Checkmate and Lee were facing one another, both of them running on near empty, smiling at one another.

"Good fight" Rock said wearily.

"Agreed" Checkmate agreed.

"LOOK OUT" Hinata yelled.

Checkmate looked in time to be blown to smithereens by a tank shell. A second blast fired at Rock Lee, but Hinata pushed him out of the way at the last second. As the tank came to the spot where Checkmate had been felled, the top opened and Chipp Zanuff poked his head out.

"Another one bites the dust." The ninja said with much satisfaction as he climbed back into the tank and drove off. In a nearby ditch, Hinata and Rock Lee rested.

"Hinata…" Rock said weakly"I can't fight anymore."

Hinata looked at Rock"Don't be silly, you can still…"

"My legs broken." Rock said calmly"And I used up most of my power performing the initial lotus on that Chess guy." Rock laughed bitterly"Right now I'm just a sitting duck for anyone to get an elimination."

Hinata looked at Rock sadly"Rock…"

"I want you to eliminate me Hinata. That way I'll at least have the dignity of being taken out by a fellow Konohana ninja."

Hinata gulped"But then I'll be the only hidden leaf ninja in the ring again."

Rock smiled and laughed"You'll be fine, you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. You've already done better than any other ninja from our village in this tournament thusfar, even better than Gaara and Naruto, I'm sure you'll do fine."

Hinata considered what Rock told her, then closed her eyes and nodded.

"It'll hurt, no matter how I do it." Hinata said flatly"Any preferences"

Rock shrugged"Just slit my throat with a Kunai, that will work fine."

Hinata nodded calmly, and pulled out a Kunai, Rock sighed and closed his eyes.

A minute later, Hinata stepped out of the ditch, her hands and Kunai stained with her friend's blood. She had an angry look in her eyes.

"Zanuff… your mine."

****

Room 123

Kiba and Neji just stared at the screen, then at one another.

"I didn't just see that, did you" Kiba asked.

"Didn't see what" Neji responded.

****

IGP Locker rooms

After getting slammed against the wall for the third time, Kevin mask realized that trying to grapple with the giant was not a sound strategy.

The young Chojin sized up Hugo, even as he dodged a locker thrown by the giant. He was obviously too big perform throws on, and grapples wouldn't work either. Kevin also decided that simply pummeling him wouldn't work either. This left three options for Kevin Mask: 1) run, 2) Cheat, or 3) do something else.

Option one wasn't his style, and he couldn't think of anything for option three that might work, so option two was a definite shot.

Kevin ducked under a swing from Hugo and rolled away, scanning the area for anything he could use to even the odds up. He found what he was looking for in a fire extinguisher hanging from the wall. Grabbing it, Kevin sprayed a cold blast into the face of the charging Hugo, stunning the giant. Kevin followed up with slamming the extinguisher into Hugo's knee. The extinguisher dented, but Hugo was only annoyed by the assault. As he reached for Kevin, the Chojin realized that this was going to suck.

"EIN! SHWIEN! DRIE! ENDE"

Kevin groaned as Hugo rolled off him, after three two back breakers and a body press, the Chojin felt like every bone in his body had been powdered.

"Well, that settles that." Poison said smugly"You lose. I'll send you your information packet and T-shirt in the mail, and I'll inform the tournament head that you won't be competing. Come on Hugo, we've got other recruits."

"Not so fast."

Hugo and Poisoned turned to see a man dressed in blue, with a white facemask standing in the doorway.

"Who are you" Poison asked.

"I am Lord Flash, Kevin's trainer and manager." The newcomer answered, Poison smirked.

"Well, sorry, but you're a little late. Mr. Mask is now with the HWA, and your services are no longer required."

"Oh really" Lord flash said"I was under the impression your friend had to beat Kevin in order for him to join you. You haven't won yet."

"Oh no" Poison pointed to the floor"Looks plenty beat to me."

It was at that point that Poison noticed Kevin was standing again. His body glowing with a golden aura.

"Well what do you know" Mask exclaimed"I figured out something for option three."

Poison didn't need to say anything, Hugo stepped up to Mask and took a swing at the young Chojin. Much to Hugo's surprise, Kevin caught the fist and grabbed hold tight to Hugo's arm, not letting go. He then grabbed the other arm and stretched them across one another. Despite Hugo's struggling, he could not break free.

Poison stared in disbelief, by all accounts what she was seeing was not physically possible.

"You hit me with your best shot Hugo" Kevin snarled angrily"Now permit me to return the favor. BIG BEN BASH"

****

IGP central office

"Huh" Washuu muttered as she looked at her monitor, the information she was currently receiving couldn't possible be right.

"What's up Washuu" Crinos said, putting down his phone.

Washuu shrugged"From the looks of this, we just had a small jump on the Richter scale, a very minor earthquake situated in the men's locker room."

Crinos stared at the monitor along with Washuu"Huh."

****

IGP Locker rooms

Poison stared in disbelief, her prize wrestler Hugo was now buried face down up to his legs in concrete, Kevin Mask and Lord Flash looming over her.

"Uh, are you going to hurt me" Poison asked meekly.

"I don't hit women, especially non fighter women." Kevin said calmly.

Poison took one look at Kevin, then bolted. Kevin looked at Lord Flash, who shrugged, then decided he didn't really give a rats ass. Afterall, he had a tournament to win.

****

The ring

B.B Hood stumbled out of the alleyway into the streets in time to nearly get run over by Chipp Zanuff, who was still piloting the tank slug. The American ninja was currently gunning down Sasquatch and Blue Mary, who had been fighting ever since Li Xiangfei's elimination, but now they were narrowly dodging gun fire and tank shells.

"We have to get away from that guy" Blue Mary screamed as she dodged another tank shell. Sasquatch gave a loud "Chuffle" in agreement and grabbed Blue Mary.

"Hey what are you…" Blue Mary never finished her thought, as a team of sled dogs appeared out of the ether, as Sasquatch slammed Mary down on the ground and tied the dogs to Mary, Chipp could only laugh.

Sasquatch did manage to put some much needed distance between himself and the Chipp tank using the Blue Mary sled he had made, but on such rough terrain there was only so much use Blue Mary had as a sled. When Luffy decided she was injured enough to warrant elimination, Sasquatch was still riding her, and promptly fell flat on his ass.

He had put some distance between himself and Chipp, but not enough to prevent Chipp from hitting the Darkstalker with a well-placed cannon shot. With no real cover and being such a large target, Sasquatch was promptly blown to kingdom come.

Hinata landed down quietly behind Chipp and his tank, looking at BB Hood, who had been sneaking up from behind as well. The two nodded to each other silently and climbed up onto the tank. BB pulled out a hand grenade, Hinata pulled out a Kunai, and they opened the hatch.

A black and silver blur flashed past the two girls and went down the streets. Hinata knew what it was, but looked down anyway. Sure enough, Chipp was nowhere to be seen.

""I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch." BB Hood said as she lit a smoke"And that Trenchcoat wearing cyborg too."

"Tell me about it…" Hinata noticed something"Weren't you holding a hand grenade a second ago"

BB Hood looked down and saw that she was only holding a pin.

"Well that cant be good…"

BOOM

Half a block away, Cap glared at Chipp.

"Your shameless." The avenger said.

"Sure am" The ninja exclaimed proudly.

****

Room 78

Shampoo sat on a bench in the built in koi pond that was part of Ranma's hotel room and let out a heavy sigh. This was terrible; It wasn't so bad when she had to marry Ranma, sure he had all those other fiancee's, but he was a catch that was worth keeping.

But now Shampoo was engaged to a gaijin vampire hunter from Europe, which meant she would have to move far away from Ranma, and would have to deal with more crazy people who didn't speak Chinese.

Shampoo almost wished that that nice looking Kensou kid had eliminated her. He was no Ranma (But then again who is?) but he was Chinese at very least, and he wasn't all crazy and possessive like Mousse.

"Mind if I come in"

Shampoo looked up to see Simon Belmont standing at the entrance, the Amazon warrior looked away sadly.

"I'm terribly sorry about all this" Simon said, walking over and sitting next to Shampoo"I honestly didn't know about your tribes laws when I eliminated you. Nethertheless, I fully intend to do the honorable thing and Marry you. That is, once things are settled in my home country and the menace of Dracula is laid to waste once and for all."

Shampoo sighed"Shampoo no want marry pretty boy Vampire hunter, Shampoo want marry Ranma."

Simon yelled"yes, seems like a lot of women want to marry him, I honestly don't see the attraction, but then again that might just be me."

Shampoo didn't look up"Where Ranma now"

"He went down to the ring, along with that large panda bear he claims is his father. Hopefully they will fare better against Maximov then we did." Simon shifted uncomfortably"Alright, I've got to know, what IS the attraction you people have to that kid"

Shampoo thought about it. "Well you see…"

"YOU CAN ALL STOP WORRYING! I'M BACK" Faust stormed into the Koi pond, nearly giving Shampoo and Simon a heart attack.

"Oh its you" Simon muttered"Where are the Kuno's"

"The girl is resting in the other room, nasty bump on the head but nothing too severe, the other one was in real bad shape though, had to take him to the infirmary before I got here." Faust explained, then realized that Simon was glaring at him.

"Hey now, don't look at me! It was that red haired psychopath Genjuro that did it. I arrived just in time to find him trying to make off with Kodachi."

Simon nodded, the story did make sense, but then Shampoo asked an obvious question.

"So where samurai"

Faust looked at Shampoo gravely.

"Don't ask."

****

Hotel room 329

The sound of a beeper going off woke Lin from his slumber. The gangly ninja rubbed the sleep from his eyes and grabbed his pager from the desk where he had left it the night before.

"K'" The ninja muttered in annoyance as he got up from bed, searching for his discarded clothing scattered across the floor.

A soft moan interrupted his search, looking over Lin saw the woman he had spent the previous night with was still asleep. Lin watched her for a few more minutes as he gathered up the remainder of his clothes and proceeded to get dress.

They had met last night at one of the bars. Seth and Benimaru, Lin's former teammates, had insisted on dragging the ninja along for a night on the town. Lin of course had no real interest in such distractions, but went out anyway out of professional courtesy. But watching Benimaru hit on girls and Seth acting like a cross between Shaft and Dolomite tends to wear thin after a while, so Lin abandoned his comrades and went to a little coffee shop to unwind.

That's where Lin met her. Like Lin she was a loner, a bit on the antisocial side, and had a bloodline ability that made her a total freak in the eyes of the common man. Naturally the two hit it off famously, and half an hour later they were in her hotel room, doing what comes natural between a man in a woman. (Without protection, considering how rarely the two of them actually had sex both deemed it to be unnecessary.)

But that was then, and this is now. Lin looked at the clock on the wall and realized why k' had called him; he was set to go out in the ring in the next section and he had to get down there. Lin took one last look at his former bedmate and sighed. Although he did like her, the simple nature of his job and obligations prevented him from seeking a relationship that surmounted to anything more than a one-night stand, especially not with a gaijin brawler from another dimension.

Lin also decided it would be best if he just left without saying anything, thus eliminating the need for any awkwardness about the night's previous events.

"HEY MARROW" A loud pounding from outside the room shook the foundations"GET UP ALREADY! Y'ALL ARE MISSIN CAPTAIN AMERICA FIGHTING THAT WHITE HAIRED NINJA FELLER"

Marrow sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes, woken by Rouge's pounding, then noticed Lin was also up, and fully dressed, and halfway to the door.

"Leaving already" The mutant said flatly.

Lin looked away and rubbed the back of his head, this was exactly the kind of situation he was hoping to avoid. "Well… um, yeah actually."

Marrow shrugged"Don't let me stop you."

Lin blinked"Say what"

"Oh come on, like this is the first time I haven't had a one night stand? Two ships passing in the night and all that. So good bye, and good luck in the contest."

Lin gave a sigh of relief"Thanks for understanding." The Hizoku ninja vanished from sight, leaving Marrow alone in her room.

"I'm gonna kill Rogue for waking me up so damn early." Marrow muttered as she got out of bed. It was that point she noticed that some of her bone growths were covered with blood, as was the mattress.

And that said blood was eating through her bone growths and said mattress.

"Hmph, Kinky." The Mutant mused as she got dressed.

****

The ring

Ness had been fighting with Sakura ever since Asmodeus had been eliminated, and for what its worth the Smash brother was dealing with his opponent in a manner he felt was adequate.

Which is a polite way of saying he hadn't been turned inside out yet.

Ness was a talented psychic, but a trained hand to hand fighter he was not. Every attempt to attack Sakura met with heavy punishment. Ness had learned the hard way how much Sakura's shouken can hurt and that he left himself open for it whenever he tried a physical attack.

Which meant that the only reason Ness was still alive was because of his psychic powers: every time Sakura got close enough to attack, Ness would use PK flash to blind her long enough to escape, then use PK fire to roast her. Whenever she threw a fireball, Ness would use PK magnet to absorb the blast.

This of course was only stalling. The dark Hadou powered schoolgirl was more than tough enough to take all of Ness's attacks and more. And Ness knew it, his only chance was a dangerous psychic attack, one which he had never attempted before. Gathering the remainder of his PK power, Ness reached out and made contact with Sakura's mind.

Sakura screamed in pain as Ness assaulted her psyche. Due to the nature of the mental assault Sakura saw and experienced things that could only be described after copious amounts of federally controlled substances. When the psychic maelstrom concluded, Both Ness and Sakura fell to their knees.

Sakura's tanned complexion began to clear up, her skin returned to its original color, and her face lost its dark and evil edge. "What the hell was that" The young Shoto asked as she looked around, then noticed her complexion"Hey, I don't feel the urge to kill anymore"

Ness let out a sigh of relief, now that Sakura wasn't evil anymore, he might just stand a chance.

Then Sakura's skin turned tan again"Oops, spoke too soon, SHINNKU HADOKEN"

Even if Ness had been able to get his barrier up in time, he didn't have enough PK power left to sustain it. All the smash brother could do is cry silently for his mother as the white beam engulfed him. The blast that incinerated Ness also had the incidental effect of blowing Slash out of his hiding spot, an abandoned building, and depositing him between Chipp and Cap, who were still going at it. Slash Got up in time to eat a charging star from Captain America, sending him flying through a shop window.

When Slash got his bearings again, he noticed three large gems on the window still, tentatively the demon hunter reached for the gems as the familiar rippling began, sending the remaining fighters to the next arena.

****

IGP Hotel room 789

Genjuro shook his head as he got up. He remembered charging Faust, getting hit, strapped to a table, a large explosion, then nothing. Shaking his head, Genjuro looked at the clock on the wall, which indicated as near as Genjuro could figure that fifteen minutes had gone by since he had lost consciousness. Looking around also indicated that both Faust and the Kuno's were nowhere to be found.

"Damnit" Genjuro muttered as he picked up his sword. Not only had he failed to kill Faust, he also failed to secure the Kuno girl, which meant Maximov was going to yell at him more in his head.

It was at this point that Genjuro noticed his reflection in a mirror hanging on the wall. Genjuro walked over to it and stared at it…

…Or more specifically at his _hair._

Genjuro's former ponytail had transmogrified into a large purple Afro. Experimentally the samurai poked it to make sure it was real.

And then he screamed. Very, very loudly.

****

Final results (Out of 16 votes)

****

Chipp Zanuff: 3.5

Hinata Hyuuga: 3.3

Sakura: 3.3

B.B hood: 2.2

Demitri Maximov 2.0

Slash: 1.6

Captain America 1.6

Q: 1.4

Line of elimination

Sasquatch: 1.4

Blue Mary: 1.3

Rock Lee: 1.3

Checkmate: 1.3

Bridget: 1.3

Master Higgins: 0.6

Ness: 0.3

Kyosuke Kagami: 0.2

Asmodeus: 0.2

Cy-5: 0.2

Li Xiangfei: 0.1

Veemon: 0.1

Ass-Kickin': Bushin Style: Blackheart's Team (10) dominates Guy (6)

All in the Family: Krauser (12) overpowers Grant (3) with one abstention

HWA recruitment Drive: Hugo (7) gets bashed by Kevin Mask (9)

Is there a doctor in the House: Faust (11) dissects Genjuro (5)

Elimination's this section: Chipp, Hinata: 2, BB Hood, Sakura, Demitri, Slash, Captain America, Q, Sasquatch Blue mary: 1

Current elimination leader: Demitri Maximov and Chipp Zanuff with Five elimination's each.

Authors comments: Wow, what a trip its been. This is the first episode of the Grand Prix I've written in my new college dorm, I'd like to think Zudomon for helping me tally up the votes for this section, and also Gavok for suggesting how I can improve the Grand prix.

New vote tallying method: From now on, Live votes will be divided by die votes to determine the total votes a fighter gets. That was fatigue votes don't make as big a splash (Thanks Gavok)

Lets hear it for the shy girl: Hinata is now officially the longest surviving member of her node, having survive two whole sections, will she make it to her third?

Well, thanks again to everyone who voted, and I'll see you next section.


	13. Section 5

****

IGP Backstage

"Ed, Are you sure were going the right way"

Edward Elrich, the Fullmetal Alchemist, gave a sour look at his brother Alfonse"For the last time Al, I know exactly where I am…"

"OUT OF THE WAY SHRIMP"

Ed spun around "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TINY INSIGNIFIGANT LITTLE DUST SPECK THAT A CATERPILLAR WOULD…"

Before Ed could finish his rant the state Alchemist was trampled, flattened down into the ground by Naraku and Inuyasha' group as the pair continued their Monty hall type chase through the backstage area. After the group had dispersed, Alfonse gave a sigh and hoisted his semiconcious brother up on his shoulder.

"Something tells me this is going to be a long day brother…" The young alchemist muttered as they continued their search for the central office.

****

IGP: The Infinity grand prix

Section five

The ring

When the warping effect subsided, the fighters were in much closer confines than the previous section. The new arena was a square shaped platform of steel suspended over a pool of green liquid that could only be surmised as acid.

Chipp kicked Captain America into the air with a dust attack and took the time to look around"Ah well, at least it isn't another city, those get old after a while."

So interested in his new surroundings was Chipp Zanuff that he barely noticed the Kunai and missile coming his way. The young ninja leapt up in time to dodge the attacks, which unfortunately hit the descending Captain America, knocking the Avenger dangerously close to the edge of the platform, Landing, Chipp saw an irate BB Hood and Hinata coming towards him.

"Aw nuts" the male ninja muttered as the two girls began to circle around him. At the same time, Cap got up and, noticing Chipp was outnumbered already decided not to unbalance the fight any further and went to seek battle elsewhere.

"Yes ladies and gentlemen, from Mortal Kombat: Deception, it's the universal dead pool! No weapons, no hiding spots, just the fighters and a big ol' pool of acid. Needless to say, if you're thrown into that stuff, you're out of here! Also, starting this section we are expanding the section size! Yes, from now on thirty fighters will fight each section instead of twenty! That means more carnage and chaos for your dollar! So sit back and enjoy"

Crinos flipped off his microphone and turned to Washuu"Ha! How's that for micro managing"

Washuu Shrugged"Looks good on paper, but we'll see how it pans out. Incidentally, The Elrich brother have arrived in the node, there currently backstage looking for the central office."

Crinos smiled"Great, those two will make great new security officers. You'll like em, their Alchemists, maybe you can learn something from them."

"Doubtful" Washuu yawned as she typed on her computer"I made alchemy obsolete when I was a toddler."

Crinos shrugged"Whatever, lets announce the next fighter…

****

Kevin Mask (GWFUM)

The British brawler cracked his knuckles as he made his way down to the ring. He had been looking forward to this since Vance McMadd had announced the Muscle league's entry into the Infinity grand prix.

As he walked to the ring, he stopped for a second, clutching his chest. The Chojin quickly shook it off and made his way into the ring. Entering, he rushed over to Q, grabbed the cyborg and put his arm in a submission lock, nearly wrenching it out of its socket. Demitri, who had been pounding on Q with little effect, stepped back and watched the exchange with a twisted smirk.

Washuu looked to Crinos"Why does Kevin look like he's been put through a meat grinder"

Crinos shrugged"Not sure, but I just got a report from the medical bay, apparently Hugo, Jhun Hoon and Tatewaki Kuno were all admitted during the last section. Hugo will be okay to fight since his draw was relatively late, but the other two aren't so lucky."

"How bad is it"

"Well Kuno was carved like a turkey by someone. We don't know whom, but the medical team reported he was dropped off by Faust, pretty obvious what happened there. As for Jhun… well apparently his head exploded after hearing something Kim Kaphwan said. Odds are neither one of them will be fighting anytime soon."

"Which means we have to scrounge up two new mystery fighters." Washuu muttered.

Crinos nodded"Yeah, while your on it, send someone to fetch the Elrich brothers, I want to brief them on the goings on thusfar."

****

Eagle (CvS2)

The same elegant English music that played when Kevin came in continued as Eagle made his way down to the ring. As he made his way down to the ring the street fighter blew a kiss to Bridget in the eliminated seating, who pretended not to see him.

On the way down the ramp, a skinhead sitting near the ramp held out a sign that read "GOD HATES FAGS". Eagle spent no time pulling the racist asshole out of his seat, slamming him on the pavement and then pounding him with is escrima sticks for a full minute before continuing on his way, leaving the punk to drown in a blood of his own blood.

Crinos looked at Washuu"Send the med team to clean that up, don't want anyone tripping over that."

Washuu nodded"Ill get to it eventually."

Washuu and Crinos smiled to one another"Hah"

****

Eliminated seating

"Hey Elena, your from the same node as that guy with the sticks right" The street fighter princess looked over to Davis and Veemon who were sitting next to her"How do you think he'll do"

Elena observed Eagle, who was currently bashing Q from behind while he grappled with Kevin Mask. She didn't really know Eagle too well, but she was more familiar with the mysterious cyborg than she cared to admit.

"In my opinion, Eagle is totally screwed." Elena said with as much sympathy as she could.

"Alright, so were agreed then, as soon as Slash is eliminated we go looking for that sand guy."

Elena suddenly turned her attention to Dandy J, Tesse, and Mauru, who were sitting directly in front of her. Cautiously the princess leaned forward to hear more.

"Mauru doesn't want to fight that bad man again" The young girl atop of Mauru's head stated, the giant beast shaking its head in agreement.

"I know you don't, but that freak has our gems" Dandy stamped his hand into his palm to illustrate his point. "Besides he was responsible for each of us being eliminated. Anyway there's nothing to worry about, this time were going to gang up on that kid and can I help you"

Elena nearly fell backwards in her seat as Dandy, Mauru and Tesse turned to face her. Elena laughed nervously as the three glared at her.

"Uh… Sorry… need to go to the bathroom…" Elena shot up and ran out of the room. Dandy looked at Tesse.

"Follow her, she's friends with that sand guy. Make sure she doesn't tell him anything."

Tesse smiled floated after Elena, while Dandy and Mauru returned to watching the tournament. Unbeknownst to them, Elena was not the only one listening in.

"I better warn Gaara about this" Rock Lee said to himself quietly as he got up. He had originally intended to wait for Hinata before heading back, but this took precedence.

As Lee made his way to the exit, he bumped into Vega, who had just walked in. The Spanish psychopath glared at Lee, causing the ninja to raise one of his unusually thick eyebrows.

"What" Lee asked curiously.

Vega's hand shook with rage"You… ugly… FREAK"

Rock ducked underneath a claw swipe from Vega and delivered a spinning kick to the madman's face, sending him sprawling to the floor. The eliminated fighters turned their attention towards the fight, while Juni and Juli, who had accompanied Vega, tried their best to remain invisible.

"What is your deal" Rock fell into a defensive stance as Vega rose, clutching his mask, which had a large gash in it.

"You… if I hadn't been wearing my face guard, that would have ruined my FACE" Vega's words dripped like venom"I might have ended up almost as ugly as you"

Rock blinked"I'm not that bad looking, and anyway you started it. Now I have more important things to do than play with you…"

"Then cancel them" Vega cut Rock off"Ugly people like you have no place in this world, its time to die."

Rock sighed, but in a way was glad for this, he was disappointed with himself for his lackluster performance in the grand prix and needed to vent, and this guy seemed like he was offering.

****

The Ring

The Ice Climbers (SSBM)

The female population of the arena gave a collective "Awww" as the foot tall Eskimo's that were the ice climbers entered the ring. Upon entry, Sakura stopped pounding Slash into the ground, shifted into her normal state, and leaned over the pair.

"Oh aren't you the cutest little things I've ever seen" Sakura cooed as she gushed. Popo and Nana (Or whatever the hell their names are) smiled at the attention and giggled shyly.

Then suddenly Sakura turned back into Dark Sakura"I hate cute…" the young Shoto muttered as she gathered up energy for a fireball.

The Ice climber's response was quick and decisive: The pair pulled out a pair of mallets as big as they were and cut Sakura's legs out from under her. The street fighter lifter her head off the ground just in time to get punted across the platform like a hockey puck.

Slash, who was in a fetal position at the time, warily opened his eyes and noticed he was no longer being made a bitch. Looking around, he saw the ice climbers.

"Hey little guys" The demon hunter cooed as he patted the pair on the head"How did you get in here? This is no place for kids."

The two ice climbers looked at each other and giggled mischievously.

****

Backstage

Sean, Ken and Ryu watched the preceding scene with shock, then promptly took a collective step left to avoid the Naraku/ Inuyasha team chase that was still going on.

"Okay, Ill bite, what the hell was that" Sean asked.

"Well its simple really…" Ken started, but then realized he had nothing"Uh Ryu? What the hell was that"

Ryu shrugged"I'm gonna go with 'The psychic kid accidentally gave Sakura a split personality with his last attack and now she's uncontrollably shifting from normal to dark Hadou mode.'"

Sean nodded dumbly"Uh huh, but what are we gonna do about it"

Ken shrugged"Nothing we can do, just have to wait until either she's eliminated or we get into the ring with her, then we can hopefully knock some sense into her."

Ryu nodded"Incidentally, from what I understand, Dan is going to be fighting in this section, so he's getting the first shot at her."

Ken bit back a laugh"That should be a hoot to watch. He's the second worst street fighter out there."

Sean smirked"Yeah… Hey who's the worst fighter if Dan's the second worst"

Ryu and Ken looked away and grunted uncomfortably.

"Uh, anyway, lets get to the eliminated seating and wait for Sakura." Ryu suggested.

"Yeah, good idea." Ken added as the two walked towards the eliminated seating.

"Hey guys, who's the worst street fighter" Sean continued as he walked behind Ken and Ryu"Come on tell me…"

****

The Ring

Kagura (I: AFF)

Rather than enter from the conventional entrance, wind sorceress Kagura floated in from the sky on a giant feather. As she came in, her big sister Kana showed Kagura the scene of Naraku being chased about by Inuyasha's group. The demon smirked at this as she entered the ring, throwing a dance of blades at Kevin Mask and Eagle, knocking them off of Q.

Without saying a word, the Cyborg walked over to Kagura, pulled out the glowing object he grabbed from Naraku earlier, and handed it to her.

Kagura smiled"Pleasure doing business with you. Ill fulfill my end of the bargain later."

"...(No rush)" The cyborg replied.

From behind Kagura, Kana watched the scene mutely.

****

Lin (KOF 2k1)

__

Banging heads and ripping threads

If i wasn't rocking shows

I'd be better of dead

With a one two

One word can destroy your whole crew

And that's toxic

The Hizoku ninja materialized on the runway and gave a cautious glare at the sound booth. Although he didn't approve of the music, he knew it could have been worse than crazy town with the sports team about.

Stepping into the ring, Lin noticed Chipp Zanuff's running battle with Hinata, as the two ran by, BB Hood ran after them, firing at random. Instinctively Lin reached out and grabbed Hood by the scruff of her neck, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"You" the bounty hunter said, spinning around after Lin let her go"You must have a death wish or something for pulling that crap on me."

Lin yawned in a bored fashion as Hood pulled out enough firepower to legally make her a war crime and brought it to bear on him. The Hizoku ninja walked towards hood, vanishing as she opened fire. When Hood finished shooting, she assumed at first that she had somehow disintegrated Lin. Unbeknownst to her the Hizoku ninja was more than fine and right behind her.

****

Genma Saotome (R ½: HB)

The entrance of Ranma Saotome's lazy panda of a father was the only reason BB Hood was not eliminated at that point: After hitting her with multiple rapid shots and tossing her, Hood went careening towards the acid, only to bounce off Genma as he entered the ring. Hood got up, brushed herself off, then charged back towards Lin. Genma just shrugged and grunted.

He really didn't want to fight, he had only come to the tournament to make sure Ranma didn't do anything to humiliate their house and to freeload off someone else for a change. (Besides which, Soun had a cold, which meant he was in no condition to play Shogi.). Genma originally planned to just let Ranma or someone else eliminate him once he got into the ring. But now there was a Vampire after Ranma's fiancee's, and the younger Saotome promised his father terrible vengeance if he got eliminated and left Ranma alone to fight him.

Genma lumbered over to Demitri, who was trading blows with Captain America. The Giant panda grabbed Maximov from behind and judo flipped him to the mat. Maximov got his wits about him just in time to avoid getting stomped on by the angry Genma.

Maximov got up quickly and jumped back. He, Captain America, and Genma began to circle each other. Genma and Maximov glared hatefully at each other, Cap didn't know what the hell was up so he just went with it.

But before a three-way fight between super hero, vampire and panda could get out of way, a whooshing sound loud enough to get every fighters attention was heard, looking up they saw the dimensional portal open to reveal an object falling from the sky.

"It's a missile" Cap said, taking a few steps back.

"It's a satellite" BB Hood offered

"It's definitely not British." Eagle stated, Kevin Mask nodding in agreement.

Slash just shook his head and sighed as the thing crashed into the center of the ring, he knew exactly what it was…

****

Bonus Kun (WW7)

In the eliminated seating, Ryu was eating a hot dog he had gotten along the way from a vendor. He got one good look at the newest fighter and nearly choked.

It was a large punching bag with a face. No arms or legs, just a face, and a headband that looked kinda like Ryu's trademark. The punching bag surveyed the other fighters with a scowl as they stared on in disbelief.

"I AM BONUS KUN" The punching bag declared in a booming voice"THE REST OF YOU FIGHTERS MAY AS WELL JUST LEAVE THE RING NOW, AS THE GREATEST FIGHTER EVER I ALREADY DECLARE MYSELF THE WINNER OF THE INFINITY GRAND PRIX. I WILL RECEIVE MY PRIZE NOW."

The other fighters stared at each other, then at Bonus Kun. Hinata scratched her head quizzically, Demitri sneered in contempt, and Slash just tried his best to ignore him.

Finally Sakura, back in normal form, stepped up to Bonus Kun. "I'll fight you, whatever you are."

Bonus Kun looked Sakura up and down, and laughed.

"I REFUSE YOUR CHALLENGE. FOR YOU SEE YOU ARE SO INCREDIBLY WEAK THAT YOU WOULD NOT STAND ANY CHANCE AGAINST ME! I WOULD TOTALLY OUTCLASS AND DESTROY YOU WITH ONLY ONE PERCENT OF MY POWER. YOUR PATHETIC ATTACKS WOULD NOT EVEN REGISTER AS DANGEROUS TO ME. IT WOULD BE LIKE A FLEA TRYING TO BLOCK A STRAY COMET. SO RUN ALONG LITTLE WIMP, AND LEAVE THE RING TO THE ONE TRUE FIGHTER: BONUS KUN"

Sakura stared for a second, turned back into Dark Sakura, and scowled. Then she smashed Bonus Kun with a shouken, sending the punching bag airborne. The rest of the fighters, bored with the spectacle, resumed fighting.

****

Iruka (N: NH2)

Iruka entered the ring just in time to see Hinata pinned down by Chipp, who had gotten the drop on her during the confusion caused by Bonus Kun. Acting quickly the Chuunin threw a Kunai at Chipp, driving him back. Hinata used this time to get up and jump over besides Iruka.

"Thanks, I shouldn't have let him get that close." Hinata muttered.

"Don't worry about it" Iruka said assuredly"Now, let me fill you in on what's been going on…"

****

IGP Hotel, room 123

"…And that's the plan." Chizuru Kagura said to the assembled fighters currently sitting around the table"Any questions"

After a moment of silence, Iori raised his hand"Are you an idiot"

Kagura looked at Iori"What? What's wrong with my plan"

"You call that a plan" Iori rose from his seat"We attack Goentiz' hotel room during the half time show? That's not a plan, that's attempted suicide."

"Look" Kagura said calmly"The New faces band is performing the half time show. That's three heavenly kings out of the way right there."

Iori laughed"Oh great, so we don't have to fight the heavenly kings? That's a five minute fight tops. Goentiz is the one we have to look out for" Iori clutched his stomach"Him and Orochimaru."

"I hate to agree with Iori" Kyo entered the conversation"But he's right, We need to attack when Goentiz is out. He's going into the ring in a few sections, why not hit them there"

Kagura smiled"That's the beauty of it, Goentiz is going into the ring roughly the same time the half time show starts. We can go to their hotel room, free Leona, defeat Orochimaru, then ambush Goentiz after he's eliminated."

"Assuming he is eliminated" Iori pointed out curtly, sitting back down"What if he wins the grand prix"

Kagura, as well at the others at the table, shuddered. No one wanted to think about the implications of Goentiz with the Infinity Gauntlet.

"Um, can I ask something" Attention turned to Kakashi, who held up Naruto, still in chicken form"How exactly are we going to fix this"

Kagura scratched his head"Huh, you know I'm not certain, transmutation magic isn't exactly my forte." Kagura looked around, then noticed Gaara, who was watching the Grand Prix over on the couch. Kagura noted the glowing gems he was cradling in his lap.

"I think I just came up with something…" Kagura smiled.

****

The Ring

Makoto (SF3: 3s)

Makoto bounced down to the ring, totally pumped for a fight. As she did, she handed out flyers to the audience for her dojo. Even if she didn't win, fighting in this tournament would be great publicity.

Once Makoto got into the ring, she was nearly flattened as Demitri gave Genma Saotome a pile driver. Luckily Makoto was able to roll out of the way in time. As Genma got up, he looked over the young Karate girl and blinked.

"Akane" read the sign that Genma held up. Makoto ignored the panda and charged at Demitri with intent to break. Demitri saw the charge coming and vanished, reappearing behind the confused Makoto and bat spun into her back.

****

Kula Diamond (KOF 2k1)

The young NESTS agent stepped out from behind the curtain accompanied by her co-creator Dinah.

"Alright sweetie" Dinah instructed"Remember the plan"

"Yes Dinah, enter the ring, eliminated as many fighters as possible so Master Igniz can win the tournament." Kula said in a voice that was way too bubbly for an assassin.

Dinah smiled and picked up Kula, hugging her tightly"Oh you're so cute when you're on assignment, now go have fun and be careful."

Kula smiled as Dinah put her down"Okay Dinah. And tell Foxy not to worry about me"

Kula whistled to herself as she skipped down to the ring.

****

SkyBox 2

Shinji Ikari gave a heavy sigh as he watched the tournament from the SkyBox. His father had managed to score tickets for him, Rei, and Asuka as a reward for their good work against the angels. But Shinji was not enjoying himself.

Shinji didn't like fighting, and he knew that there were other people at NERV who would have enjoyed watching the Grand Prix live than he would have. Plus he felt bad for leaving Tokyo-3 unprotected just to go watch a stupid contest. But he knew if he refused then his father would have been disappointed in him for making him wasted the money on a ticket.

In short, it was business as usual for Shinji Ikari.

"Hey Shinji" Asuka Langesley snapped Shinji out of his train of thought"Check out the new fighter."

Shinji turned his attention to Kula, who was encasing Kevin Mask in a block of solid ice, then shrugged"So? What about her"

"Take a closer look stupid." Asuka instructed, Shinji shrugged and looked again, though he didn't notice anything special about the girl.

Then he realized something: Pale skin, red eyes, light blue hair. Shinji looked at Asuka, then both of them looked behind them at Rei, the third EVA pilot, who was eating a lollypop she had purchased from a vendor.

"Huh." The two EVA pilots said together.

****

The Ring

Twelve (Sf3: 3s)

Dinah, who was still on the walkway, gave Twelve a cold glare as the bio android shambled past.

"Remember your orders, and don't you dare hurt Kula." The NESTS operative hissed. Twelve either didn't hear her or didn't care as it entered the ring.

About that time, Kevin had broken free of the ice Kula had sealed him in, and was currently in the process of body slamming the female clone into the ground over and over again. Much to Eagle's protest.

"Hey now" The British bouncer watched as Kevin picked Kula again"That's not a very British thing to do."

Kevin stared at Eagle like he was from another planet. "Your point being"

Eagle didn't have a response. He was too busy falling over and bleeding, a gash across his back. Over him stood Twelve, his hand morphed into an axe.

"What the hell are you supposed to be" Kevin mused as the synthoid circled around him"The Pillsbury dough boy? Will you giggle if I punch you in the stomach"

Kevin stepped forward to find out, took two steps, then slipped and fell. On the ground Kevin noticed the floor around him had been iced over.

"You can wrestle" Kula said coldly, standing over the prone Chojin"But can you skate"

Kevin grunted in annoyance as he rose to his feet"Guess I won't know until I try."

Eagle tried to get up at this point, but Twelve saw him stirring and kicked him away, then took his place next to Kula.

Up in the central office, Washuu and Crinos looked at one another.

"Huh." They said together.

****

NESTS orbital base

"It would seem your brothers creation is working splendidly." Igniz mused, taking a glass of champagne from his secretary.

"Indeed. And your assassin is quite skilled, Your cloning technology is on par with our own." Gill commented, raising his own champagne glass to Igniz's as the pair watched the fighting from Igniz's throne room.

"To the NESTS Illuminati alliance." Igniz declared.

"Agreed." Gill added.

At this point, Zero entered, flanked by Krizalid, Ron, and Glugan the lion. "Sir, everything is in position. Twelve's data collection systems are feeding information on the fighters into our database."

Igniz smiled"Excellent. By the time Twelve finishes in the ring, I will have enough data from fighters across the multiverse to be unbeatable."

Gill continued the thought"And with that Data, you will easily win the grand prix and the Infinity gems, which we sill split evenly, allowing us to merge all the worlds into a single plane of existence."

Igniz finished "Which we will rule together."

Both madmen spoke at once"Brilliant"

As the pair laughed, Urien watched from the balcony. Needless to say, he was fuming.

"As if one of them wasn't bad enough." Urien muttered, then a smile came across his face. "Still, its smart for me to let those two do my grunt work. Ill let them wipe out all the tough fighters for me, then Ill sneak in and take the win for myself"

Urien chuckled to himself, unaware that K9999 was watching him from the shadows.

"Heh, that's a good plan he's got going." The clone muttered to himself"So good, I think Ill steal it. I'm sick of taking orders from gods. Now I want to be one."

K9999 chuckled to himself, unaware that Angel was outside the Balcony, listening in.

"Hmm, I wonder if K9999 knew who ate all the rocky road. I bet it was Kula, that greedy pig." At which point Angel remembered she might be some ice cream in Zero's private icebox, and went off to pilfer it.

****

The Ring

Maximus (WG)

"WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GODS SUCK"

Maximus ignored the familiar taunts as he made his way down to the ring. Upon entry he planned to go smash Demitri upside the head with his hammer. (Vampires, afterall, had a history of brainwashing and enslaving others, something that didn't sit too well with Maximus.) Unfortunately, upon entering the Ring Maximus was caught off guard by Sakura. Who was currently using Bonus Kun as a high-speed projectile.

****

Bomberman (DMTV: WF)

__

Boom

Here comes the boom

Ready or not

Here comes the

Boys from the South

Boom

Here comes the boom!

How you like me now?

Bomberman, the latest entry from the dream mix node, was more than a little nervous. So far each member of his node, save for Simon Belmont, had been defeated quite handily. Considering his diminutive size (he was about as big as the ice climbers), he was having some serious doubts about his ability to compete.

Entering the ring, Bomberman came in time to see Chipp and Captain America going at it. Unnoticed by the duo, Bomberman dropped a bomb between them and ran off. One explosion later the two fighters were on the ground and Bomberman had new confidence.

****

King Korn Karn (PW)

Everybody just stared as the huge Korean wrestler made his way down to the ring. Upon entering, the giant man let out his battle cry.

"I am King Korn Karn! No doubt it they're of my goodness" He then promptly began Mongolian chopping Slash.

"Yes folks, Its King Korn Karn, our fifth mystery fighter all the way from the Pro Wrestling node, a vintage node with classic fighters." Crinos flipped off his microphone"Okay, that's the last time I do crystal meth before writing up a fight card." Washuu just nodded as she continued typing. At this point the Elrich brothers decided to come in.

"Sorry were late." Alfonse said, still holding his brother up"We had a mishap."

"Yeah, I saw." Crinos said"Look, Ill level with you. I wasn't expecting to lose my security staff so early in the contest, so I had to pull some strings to get you guys. Let's just say your boss Mustang owed me a favor."

"Yeah I figured that much" Edward said, pushing away from Alfonse and standing erect. "So what's our first assignment"

"Assignments, plural." Crinos handed the Full metal a list. "First off, I want you to break up that stampede of a fight going on in the back. Have Naraku removed from the node, and tell Inuyasha and his clique to behave, and by tell I mean beat their skulls in if they don't start playing nice. Secondly I want you to find Wolfgang Krauser and remove him from the node, I don't care how. Thirdly, there have been a lot of complaints of fighters being brainwashed blackmailed and kidnapped by demons and demon associated fighters. Find out what's going on and put an end to it."

Ed sighed, this guy was even bossier than Mustang"Anything else"

Crinos smiled"Yeah, while on the subject of demonic fighters, we have Lord Deimos, Sir Dregan, and The Executioner downstairs in the holding cell. Their colleagues have already posted bail, but I want you two to have a little chat with them first. Find out what this is all about, and tail them if you cant."

"That's a lot for just the two of us." Al said.

Crinos shrugged"Split up them. Al, you Interrogate prisoners, Ed you go do grunt work I specified. Report back to me when finished."

Al was exasperated"What? Why me"

Crinos looked at Al. "You're a seven foot tall walking suit of armor. In most circles that would be considered intimidating." Crinos looked back to the monitor. "Now go clean house."

The brothers looked at each other, sighed, and turned to leave.

"Oh and boys" Crinos said as the Elrich brothers were on their way out"You do a good job, I might just find it in my heart to make you a philosophers stone."

The Alchemist didn't reply to this, but Crinos could tell they were smiling to one another as they left.

****

The Black round tables hideout

"He's late."

"Now Blackheart" Shang Tsung said, the faintest signs of panic permeating his voice"He should be along any minute now. I don't know for the life of me what might be keeping him."

"Oh of course" Blackheart said sarcastically"I couldn't for the life of me imagine what could be keeping your courier. Except maybe for the fact that, oh I don't know" St. Elmo's fire arched through the warehouse, causing the other demons and fighters to cringes"YOU ENLSITED THE DUMBEST MOST INCOMPETANT HUMAN YOU COULD POSSIBLY FIND TO FIGHT FOR YOU"

__

Calm down Blackheart, Shuma Gorath approached Blackheart, only to be thrown back by a dark lightning.

"SHUT UP! Your choice wasn't any better." Blackheart roared"What made you think that a blind old man could possibly get the Shikon jewel"

"Oh like your choice was any better." Red Aremeer Mused as he hovered above.

"At least I chose someone." Blackheart snarled"Where the hell were you"

"ENOUGH" Kikyo, who had been sitting quietly in the corner up to this point, finally entered the conversation, bringing a cold glare from Blackheart"I'm sick of listening to you throw your little temper tantrum."

Blackheart shot a sour look at Kikyo. "Watch your mouth, you're only here to keep that mongrel Inuyasha occupied. And considering he's currently indisposed chasing Naraku, that makes you expendable."

"Who are you calling…"

"Why don't we all take a breather and…."

__

I don't know why I even decided to join you idiots!

****

Fwoom "I HAVE RETURNED AND… HEY WAIT A SECOND, WHERE IS EVERYONE, AND WHAT HAPPENED HERE"

"Not now Asmodeus."

"AND WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE"

"I'm going to start by skewering that pile of soot if he doesn't stop calling me expendable."

"Uh…"

"I'd like to see you try you pretentious priestess"

"Hey, knock it off you two, no reason to start…"

"Don't stop then Tsung, me and Gorath have a betting pool going on how long it takes for them to start trading blows."

"I'D LIKE A PIECE OF THAT, PUT ME DOWN FOR THREE MINUTES."

"Uh… Guys…"

"Now that I think of it, we don't really need you to keep Inuyasha away. I can kill that wannabe demon myself if he shows up again."

"If you lay one hand on his head I'll…"

"Do what? Pin me to a tree? Like you did him? I don't know why you're so fixated on him anyway."

"This is not good."

__

Are you kidding? This is great!

"Yeah, only a minute and a half to go and I win the bet."

"…GUYS"

"WHAT" The collective demons and minions shouted as they turned to Kusaregedo, who pointed at Jack.

"I think this is him… can I eat him"

The demons looked at each other, Blackheart mumbled uncomfortably and Kikyo put away her sacred arrow. The collective demons gathered around Jack.

"So where is it" Shang Tsung approached Jack, hand outstretched. Jack reached into his pocket and produced…

…Several specks of dryer lint.

A wind blew through the warehouse, Shang Tsung suddenly felt half a dozen angry eyes on the back of his head.

"WHERE IS IT" Blackheart bellowed as he slammed Shang Tsung against the wall. The sorcerer gasped and struggled as the other demons gathered around with intent to maim.

All except Kusaregedo, who was still observing Jack. The gem may have been lost, but that was no reason to pass up a perfectly good meal. As he reached for Jack, the demon noticed a familiar smell coming off the boy's body.

"Boy smell likes ninja…" The giant Gaki said out loud. Luckily for Shang Tsung, Blackheart overheard this, and dropped the wizard.

"The Bushin Master. I should have known he would have a hand in this." Blackheart approached Kusaregedo"Can you track him"

Kusaregedo sniffed the air, and made a grimace.

"Ninja smell mild, and he fast, left little trail, don't think me can follow him."

"I can track him."

The demons turned their attention to Kikyo, who was helping Shang Tsung to his feet.

"She can… sense the presence of Jewel… with her spiritual power…" The wizard explained weakly.

"Well then, You've been upgraded from human shield to hunting dog" Blackheart said sardonically"Congratulations."

Blackheart turned to the rest of the demons. "Alright, no more room for errors. Were tying up all loose ends. Kikyo will lead Shang Tsung, Kusaregedo, Shuma Gorath and myself to the Jewel and the Bushin Master. I doubt he's gotten far considering the damage we've done to him thusfar. Asmodeus, you and Red Aremeer will go Find Naraku and Inuyasha. Kill Naraku, and ensure that Inuyasha is otherwise preoccupied. Kano, Reptile, you two stay here. When Jedah and the rest of the Covenant of seven return, inform them of our locations and have them join us. Now lets go, and no more foul ups."

With that, the confederation of demons vacated the warehouse, planning to hunt down the Bushin Master who had wronged them. Jack, at this point, realized he probably wasn't going to be paid, and decided to go stab people on the midway.

And what of Guy you ask? Well…

****

IGP Hotel, room 56

Cody shifted in his chair, the street fighter was restless.

He wasn't used to sitting in such a comfortable chair for one. Being a convict he was used to sitting on benches and cots, after getting used to that sitting in a real chair gets kinda awkward. More relevant was the fact that Cody was eager for a fight; he had gotten a relatively late draw in the contest and was getting antsy.

Still, it wasn't all bad; Mike Haggar had gone out of his way to ensure Cody would be comfortable. Granted, he was still a convict; he was still attired in his prison garb and handcuffs, and he needed an armed guard with him at all times, but it was the little things that Haggar had set up that counted.

One of the biggest things was Jill Valentine. Normally, Edi E., the corrupt and mildly psychotic police officer that had originally arrested Cody to begin with, would have guarded the street fighter. But Haggar found out that Jill, a member of the Special task and rescue squad (S.T.A.R.S for short.) was also attending the contest, and he was able to use some political muscle (Along with a few other kinds of muscles) to convince S.T.A.R.S to let Jill watch Cody.

Jill was reluctant at first, but after the first hour the two had really warmed up to one another. Jill even commented that Cody might make a fine member of STARS once he got out of jail.

Jill was reading a book on Voodoo lore (Hey, with her daily life it pays to bone up on this stuff) when there was a knock at the door. Jill answered it to find Mike Haggar at the door, over his shoulder was Guy, the Bushin master was bleeding badly.

Cody jumped from his seat. "Mike? What happened"

Jill helped Haggar bring the ninja in and lay him on the bed. "I don't know, he came crashing through my window like this, had some kind of bone stuck in his shoulder, I didn't know what to do so I came here."

"That was smart of you." Jill said, reaching into her pouch"I happen to have some herbs that can fix him right up."

As Jill applied the healing herbs, Cody and Mike looked on.

"Any idea who did this" Cody asked.

Mike shrugged"No clue. Honestly I didn't even know he was around. Guy generally doesn't go for tournaments."

Mike clenched his fist"But when I find out who did this, it's open season."

Cody cracked his knuckles"I hear that."

****

The Ring

****

Ranma Saotome (R ½ HB)

The successor of the anything goes school of martial arts received a standing ovation as he came out from behind the curtain. Normally the young martial artist would have drunk this appraise up, but today he had other matters on his mind.

Upon entering the ring Ranma leapt into a flying jump kick, Demitri Maximov his intended target. Normally the vampire would have dodged this move easily, but Maximov was too busy trying to drain blood from Makoto to notice. As a result Ranma sent Maximov sprawling to the ground, releasing Makoto from his grip.

"Thanks…" Makoto gasped as she clutched her neck. Ranma looked at her then did a double take. The similarity between Makoto and Akane was enough to throw Ranma off his game enough for Maximov to grab the Martial artist and slam him down hard into the pavement.

In the Saotome hotel room Simon and Faust looked at Makoto, then at Akane. "Huh…" was there response. Akane just fumed, as per usual when Ranma fucked up.

Demitri sneered as Ranma slowly got to his feet. "Ready to take me seriously now boy" The vampire gloated.

Ranma smirked"You kidding? Do you know how many people try and kidnap Akane and my other fiancee's? It's almost a monthly occurrence."

Demitri blinked in astonishment. He had been unawares that Saotome's potential harem was so frequently in peril. Pyron had left that out of his report on Saotome's family life.

"Yeah, you heard me" Ranma jeered, sensing Maximov's surprise"Every now and then some arrogant, super powerful, ugly as hell freak comes in and tries to take Akane and the others, just like your doing now. And I always end up getting stronger and whooping their asses. What do you say to that swirly head"

__

Splash

Maximov had little to say, but he had a lot to laugh about. As a splash of water had come out of nowhere and soaked the Martial artists, causing him to shift into his female state. Livid, Ranma Chan wheeled around to find the culprit, who turned out to be the next contender…

****

Rikou (DS3)

Rikou didn't know Ranma Saotome. He was unaware of the water based Jusenkyo curse upon him, so he thought nothing of using his trademark entrance, surfing in on a wave of magically summoned water, to enter the ring. Although he had gotten a few fighters besides Ranma wet, most of them were too busy to care. Which meant Rikou was genuinely surprised to see this mysterious red haired woman approaching the young merman with intent to maim. Maximov, true to form, took a step back and deigned to watch the show. Afterall, why fight when others can do it for you?

Maximov's attention was suddenly diverted when he noticed a locust flutter by. Then another, then another. Soon the entire ring was filled with a swarm of insects. Some of the fighters stopped to observe the phenomenon. Others, like Ranma and Sakura, were too busy pounding their respective enemies into paste to care. But as quickly as it started, it was over. Leaving a new figure in the ring…

****

Zappa (GGXX: R)

__

Feeling claustrophobic,

Like the walls are closing in.

Blood stains on my hands and

I don't know where I've been.

I'm in trouble for the things

I haven't got to yet.

I'm sharpening the axe and my

Palms are getting wet, sweating bullets.

Zappa shook his head and looked around. Once again, he had blacked out and woken up in a strange place, surrounded by strange people. And these people are stranger than most; all the more reason for him to find that doctor and fast.

"Um, Excuse me…" Zappa tugged on Captain America's shoulder. Cap, who was once again trading blows with Chipp Zanuff (And occasionally looking down to keep an eye out for Bomberman.) Judo flipped Chipp in between the King Korn Karn/ Slash fight (Hilarity ensued shortly after) and turned his attention to Zappa. "What seems to be the trouble young fella" The avenger asked politely.

"Well, I was wondering if you…" Suddenly Zappa screamed and began to convulse, floating in mid air as he assumed a position that made him look like a rag doll being held aloft by an unseen force.

"ROT IN HELL YOU SCUUUM" Zappa hissed as he threw himself at Captain America. The Avenger blocked with his shield, unsure of what was transpiring.

****

Zero (SVC Chaos)

Zero teleported immediately into the ring, coming in behind Kagura and Q, who were fighting Kevin Mask and Eagle. (Kula and Twelve were currently stalking after the Ice climbers, who had stepped on their toes so to speak.)

"Looks like we got some strange lifeforms here Ciel." Zero said to his partner through his uplink. The Reploid was glad that the link was still operational even though he was in another dimension.

"Be careful there Zero. Make sure to keep an eye out for any irregulars that might be in the area." Ciel responded. Zero took a look around and saw Twelve fighting the Ice Climbers, Bonus Kun getting slapped around by Sakura, and Captain America fending off Zappa.

"Ciel, I don't think the term irregular does these guys justice."

****

Geese Howard (SVC Chaos)

Geese Howard received a curious mix of cheer's and boos from the crowd. Those who applauded did so because they respected him for his martial art skills and for his sheer badassness. Those who jeered him did so because of his reputation as a ruthless criminal and first-rate asshole. Either way, Geese Howard was a man who left an impression.

Upon entering the ring, Geese looked down and saw Bomberman. The little robot had dropped a bomb at his feet, and was in the process of sneaking away. Snickering, Geese picked up both bomb and Bomberman and pitched them across the ring. The resulting explosion sent Bomberman, Iruka, Zero, Lin and BB Hood all airborne. As the fighters righted themselves, Geese folded his arms.

"You can't escape long death." The crime boss said gravely. The collective fighters glared at him and charged en masse. Geese smiled.

****

Dan Hibiki (MvsC2)

__

Who's in, now who's out

Hands up, now hands down

Back up, back up

Tell me what you gonna do now

Breathe in, now breathe out

Hands up, now hands down

Back up, back up

Tell me what you gonna do now

Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin' (what?)

Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin' (c'mon)

Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin' (yeah)

Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin'

Say what you will of his fighting skills, you couldn't deny the Sakyo master's flare. A cavalcade of mist and blaring Limp Bizkit announced Dan Hibiki's entrance. Girls in pink Gi's, the same ones Dan had hired for his booth earlier, danced on the walkway as Dan rolled down the ramp in time with the music. Leaping into the ring, Dan's entrance was noticed by Sakura, who was still in evil mode and pummeling Bonus Kun.

"Hey Sakura…" Dan started to say, but then noticed Hinata and Genma Saotome trading blows. Dan recalled that Hinata had been the one who had eliminated Blanka a few sections prior, and decided to return the favor. Forgetting all about Sakura, Dan turned and launched into his patented Dan-Dan kick. Hinata saw it coming a mile away and ducked, allowing Dan to slam into the giant Panda. Hinata decided to slip away while the angry Genma pounded the tar out of the Sakyo master.

As Hinata crept off, she suddenly noticed a new fighter had just entered the ring…

****

Kirby (SSBM)

Hinata may not have been the best ninja in the world, but she was still the heir to an ancient ninja clan and, as demonstrated in the past two sections, she could get quite nasty when she wanted too. Unfortunately her ninja wiles were overpowered by her natural attraction to cute small things, In this case Kirby.

"How cute" The hidden leaf ninja exclaimed as she scooped up the little fluff ball, cuddling it. Kirby cooed adorably under this sudden attention, which caused Hinata to lavish even more attention on the little creature.

Hinata did not hear the sucking sound until it was too late. When she came too a few minutes later she saw Kirby trading blows with Chipp Zanuff. The little pink imp now had a headband that mimicked hers, and his eyes were pale like hers.

Suddenly the lights dimmed, and Crinos came on again. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to thank you for your patience, I'd like to now announce the final fighter for this section"

****

Rock Howard (CvS2)

__

I could be mean

I could be angry

You know I could be just like you

I could be fake

I could be stupid

You know I could be just like you

You thought you were standing beside me

You were only in my way

You're wrong if you think that I'll be just like you

You thought you were there to guide me

You were only in my way

You're wrong if you think that I'll be

Just like you

Geese Howard snickered and threw the last of his battered enemies across the ring as he heard the announcement. The crime boss turned in time to see his son step into the ring.

"You know how long I've been waiting for this… 'Dad'" Rock said through clenched teeth.

Geese smirked"Not as long as I have boy. Now" Geese beckoned Rock forward"Lets see what Bogard's been teaching you."

Rock was happy to oblige his father, and charged right in.

****

Hot Springs

Totosai gave a contented sigh as he leaned back. It had been a while since he had gotten a nice bath, and it was nice to have one without all the hard work to go along with it (And without having to bilk Inuyasha into preparing It.). Totosai, like many fighters from his node, had gotten a later draw, so he could afford to be lazy.

Totosai suddenly looked up, aware of two powerful aura's nearby; one human and one demonic. Looking down, Totosai saw their originators; Kenshin Himura and Lillith Aensland.

"Totosai" Kenshin said, dropping his broken sword at the base of the hot spring"I need a new sword."

THE MULTIVERSE IS THE RING

THE PRIZE IS ULTIMATE POWER

AND A LOT OF PEOPLE SAID "HUH" THIS SECTION.


	14. Section 5 results

****

IGP Hotel

Elena stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button to take here to the second floor. She had talked to some of the other fighters hanging out backstage and had discovered where Gaara and his friends were staying. Hopefully she could get to Gaara before the Waku-Waku fighters could.

As the elevator doors drew shut, a hand shot between them, causing them to reopen. Elena swallowed nervously as Tesse floated into the elevator.

"I'm sorry," the robot maid said sweetly, "but I'm afraid you're not going to be warning anybody."

Elena slipped into a fighting stance as the doors of the elevator doors slid shut.

"I'm sorry too, you seem real nice, its gonna be a shame to kick your fanny."

****

IGP: The Infinity Grand Prix

Section 5 results

(Co written by Zudomon50 thanks Skiver!)

The Ring

"Predictable!"

Rock Howard groaned as his estranged father slammed him to the ground again. The crime lord spent no time pulling his son up and then slamming him down again. As Geese lifted Rock a third time the junior Howard got his bearings back and reversed the senior's momentum, sending Geese to the ground.

Rock had been enraged since he hit the ring, and Geese wasn't helping the situation. The crime lord rose from his downed position, still wearing the same pompous smirk, and brushed himself off.

"Not bad kid, I can see that you do have a little bit of that Howard spark in you," Geese beckoned Rock forward, "Lets see how much!"

Rock was about to indulge his father's request when he sensed something behind him. Rock ducked as a giant shuriken flew over his head and at Geese. The crime lord casually tilted his head as the blade flew back and stuck to the wall overlooking the acid.

From behind Rock Iruka cursed his shoddy aim. He had hoped to take out both father and son in one shot, but his gambit had failed, and now both Howard's were coming toward him, murder in their eyes.

The Howard's were not the only ones with killing on their minds, across the ring Ranma Saotome had a hunkering for some fillet of merman.

Rikou had no idea who this woman was or why she was so angry at him, but all things considered it didn't matter. The merman king had been on the defensive against this girl since he had entered the ring, blocking the girls frenzied and furious assault, and was slowly being forced back towards the edge of the platform.

Demitri Maximov watched from the distance with deep satisfaction, the vampire lord had grown weary of fighting and had decided to sit this round out and watch the other fighters battle it out for a bit.

However, in the IGP ring taking a breather is almost impossible. Demitri learned this the hard way as Kevin Mask grabbed the vampire from behind and slammed him into the floor. The British battler proceeded to grab hold of Demitri's legs and twist them like pretzels.

This only annoyed Demitri, who teleported out of the grapple, reappearing behind the confused Kevin. Demitri grabbed the Chojin and proceeded to drain his blood, throwing him away like a rag doll once he had his fill of the young warrior.

Kevin had the misfortune of landing between Ranma and Rikou. Ranma battered the Chojin; too angry to realize he was beating up the wrong guy. Rikou took the opportunity to sneak away.

Of course, the big show was in the middle of the ring, where Sakura was beating Bonus Kun within an inch of its life. Ever since the punching bags spectacular entrance Sakura had been pounding him without mercy.

This, however, did not halt Bonus Kun's taunting.

"YOU MAY AS WELL GIVE UP NOW, ITS OBVIOUS YOU ARE OUTMATCHED." Bonus Kun boomed. The statement was so unbelievable that it made Sakura stop beating on him and switch to normal mode once again.

"What are you talking about?" the young Shotokan exclaimed, "I've been pounding you senseless since we started fighting!"

"YOU ARE MISTAKEN! THE FACT IS I HAVE BEEN WINNING ALL ALONG. YOU ARE SUCH A PATHETICALLY WEAK AND INCAPABLE FIGHTER THAT YOUR MIND, UNABLE TO COPE WITH HOW PATHETIC AND LOSERLY YOU ARE, HAS BEGUN TO HALLUCINATE, MAKING YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE WINNING WHEN YOU CLEARLY ARE NOT! ACCEPT YOU'RE WEAKNESS AND SURRENDER NOW, FOR YOU CANNOT EVEN STAND AGAINST ONE TENTH OF ONE PERCENT OF MY POWER! AND FURTHERMORE…"

Bonus Kun was so busy talking he didn't notice he was airborne. The punching bag hit the acid with a splash, marking the first elimination of the round. Slash, who was currently crossing swords with Zero, let out a sigh of relief.

The relief ended when Zero, bored with swordplay, pulled out his energy pistol and capped Slash in the knee. The demon hunter screamed like a girl and fell to one knee. Zero capitalized on this and stabbed Slash through his sternum, hoisted him up, and threw him into the acid.

Zero and Sakura looked at each other from across the platform. Neither one had an opponent currently, as the other fighters were wrapped up in there own battles. Both combatants smiled and charged one another.

The instant the pair reached striking distance of one another, a large explosion knocked them apart. Bomberman chuckled to himself as he scurried off to blast again.

In another part of the arena, Hinata Hyuuga and Dan Hibiki were squaring off in what could be called an "interesting" match. Normally Dan was an easy opponent to overcome, but despite her recent success in the ring Hinata was a long way from having confidence of her ability. Without the fear of her life that somebody like Akuma inspired Hinata was not operating at her best. As a result Dan was doing much better than he should have been.

Hinata was also distracted by the fact that she was trying to locate Iruka through use of her evil eye bloodline ability. She had lost track of her old teacher after the little pink thing had eaten her, and now she was trying to find her again.

Iruka was unfortunately learning a harsh lesson: never get between a family squabble, especially one concerning the Howard family. The dazed ninja was sandwiched between a deadly and neo deadly rave, getting quite literally pounding into pudding. After the ninja fell, Geese and Rock glared at one another.

"Evens."

"Odds".

"SHOOT!"

An eight came up. Geese sneered as he scooped Iruka up and pitched him into the acid. Rock grumbled under his breath and charged his father.

****

IGP Central Office

Crinos smiled as he watched the carnage unfolding in the ring. There was nothing he liked better than watching some good old in ring carnage. Washuu on the other hand was watching something else.

"You've got some bad news for me don't you?"

Washuu looked up at Crinos, who was still watching the action in the ring. The scientist smiled sadly.

"Well… I got some good news too."

"Lay it on me."

"Well, the bad news is that adding additional fighters has overloaded the Teleportation matrix, we won't be able to send them to a different node each round."

Crinos sighed, "And the good news?"

Washuu smiled, "I just got off the line with the owners of the UVR. They support our tournament, and they have given us permission to use their elimination method."

"You mean eliminated guy spends fifteen minutes in a random node?"

"Yep. I can implement it next section once the fighters are back in the ring."

Crinos smiled. "Make it so baby."

****

The ring

Captain America raised his shield and dashed at Zappa, hoping to knock out the possessed fighter before he could conjure another spirit. Thusfar the young boy has summoned forth a sword, three ghosts in straight jackets, and a shadowy dog to the field. The apparitions didn't stick around very long, but they did stay long enough to carve into the Avengers hide.

Cap had no such luck as to connect. Once again Zappa twisted around in air, cackling maniacally as he did. Then ghostly arms erupted from his back, tearing at Caps back. Cap spun around with a roundhouse kick, knocking Zappa away.

Chipp Zanuff hung up on the chains observing the fight. He wasn't really interested in fighting this section; more content to sit back and watch the other fighters beat each other up, not unlike Demitri. Unlike Demitri Chipp had the common sense to remove himself from the action beforehand.

It was solid thinking, until Kirby floated up to the young ninja. The young ninja didn't know what to think of the little plush creature, until he got inhaled.

When Chipp came too again, he was on the ground, and Kirby was running around with spiky white hair not unlike his own. Chipp was bewildered.

But enough of this, lets check up on Makoto.

"MIGHTY AM I! KING KORN KARN WILL MAKE YOU LUSTY!"

"The hell is wrong with you?"

The young martial artist blocked another Mongolian chop and shoved King Korn Karn backward with a quick punch to the gut. The Korean wrestle quickly regained his bearings and charged again, this time using a flying jump kick. Makoto ducked and rolled under the flying attack. Once she was directly under Karn's attack Makoto stopped rolling and quickly punched upwards, catching the Korean (Or is he Mongolian? But then again who really cares?) Right in the family jewels. The Male half of the crowd winced in sympathy.

"Owww…" The wrestler cried miserably, "Broken is my snickers! My goodness is fading to pumpkin dressing."

"Whatever…" Makoto muttered as she hoisted King Korn Karn up and threw him out of the ring and into the acid. Ranma Saotome, who was nearby, stopped beating Kevin Mask stupid and stopped to congratulate the young martial artist on her victory.

"Way to go Akane! But I thought you weren't in the ring for a few more sections, you get moved up or something?"

Makoto stared at the busty redhead for a minute, "Uh, thanks, but I'm not Akane."

Ranma was confused by this announcement, and then he leaned forward and took a better look at Makoto. "Huh, I guess your not Akane. You look just like her though, its eerie, you could be sisters."

Makoto blushed at Ranma's statement. The Young Karate master didn't know whether to be flattered, freaked out, or offended.

Ranma soon made it the latter. "Yeah, your flat as a board just like her too, and you look like a boy in drag. It's easy to see how I could mistake you for her."

Makoto was now red for an entirely different reason. Ranma noticed this and gulped nervously. He knew what was coming now, and he resolved that one day he would learn to keep his big mouth shut.

****

KAPOW!

Makoto sent Ranma flying into the air in the traditional angry anime girl fashion: A wallop to the chin with a mallet inexplicably drawn from nowhere that was gone the very next instant. (Known colloquially by anime experts as the "hammer space" phenomenon.) Ranma sailed and did a swan dive into the acid. Demitri snickered at the site of his would be rival being disposed of so easily, while Rikou and Kevin Mask both drew sighs of relief.

****

IGP Hotel, Ranma's room

Faust and Akane were watching the fight on their TV. Akane held her hand in her palm and shook it slowly. Faust, who was nearby, was in the process of bandaging up the charred and unconcious Mousse.

"That guys a dork." The mad doctor observed.

"Yeah," Akane responded, turning off the television, "But he's OUR dork."

****

IGP Hot Springs

"Nope, can't help you."

Lillith stamped her foot and pouted. "But why NOOOOOT?" The young succubae was becoming increasingly irritated by the stubborn old demons refusal to cooperate. As a Succubae Lillith was used to people doing what she wanted, and Totosai was working her last nerve.

Totosai sighed and leaned back, the elderly demon pulled out a wash cloth and started rubbing behind his ears. "If you must know, there are three reasons. The first reason is that quite simply I'm on vacation. I came here to fight in this tournament, not to work on a sword. Secondly, I don't make swords all Willy nilly for just anyone; I cater to an exclusive clientele and giving a human one of my swords would be in bad form. Thirdly, I simply have no available material to make the sword you need. And that's my final comment on the situation. Sorry, but your out of luck."

Lillith was about to speak again when Kenshin interrupted her. The Ruroni was, unsurprisingly, taking this news with much more maturity.

"We understand. Terribly sorry we have wasted your time. We will search elsewhere." Kenshin said flatly as he turned to leave, dragging the protesting Lillith along with him.

"Nice argument Totosai. Now for a counter argument."

Kenshin was surprised by the sudden appearance of Morrigan in the doorway of the small hut. Behind her were Kenshin's friends Sannoske, Yahiko, and Kaoru.

"First off, You're not making this sword for just anyone. You're making it for the great clan Aensland. Secondly, If you refuse to make the sword for me I have certain ways of…" Morrigan leaned forward and smirked "Convincing you to do it, not all of which are pleasant." Morrigan's smirk faded as she stood back up.

Totosai swallowed nervously, he knew firsthand how dangerous clan Aensland could be when crossed. "But Miss Morrigan, I have nothing to make the sword out of! To create a sword capable of killing someone like Demitri Maximov I'd need the highest quality materials available!"

Morrigan considered this for a second then got an idea. Reaching into her bust, she produced the piece of soul edge she had found earlier then handed it to Totosai. The old sword smith looked the lump over in his hand, then forced back a gasp upon recognizing the metals nature.

"W-w-where did you get that?" Totosai asked, shakily handing the shard back to Morrigan. The succubae returned it to its hiding spot within her rack.

"There are shards all over the place. I think they were scattered some time during the third section. So do we have a deal? You'll make my sword?"

Totosai nodded, "Alright then, but I'll need more shards. A lot more shards."

Morrigan smiled and turned to Kenshin and his friends.

"So, up for a little scavenger hunt?"

****

The Ring

Genma Saotome was unaware of his son's elimination, and even if he was he didn't really care. The huge Panda was too busy being pounded on unmercifully by Q. Genma did his best to block and evade the cyborg's attacks, but to little success.

Kagura was doing little to help Genma's predicament. The wind sorceress stood a bit behind Q, throwing dance of blades towards the fighting pair. Q always seemed to know the right moment to duck the shots, causing them to sail over him and tear up the unfortunate Genma.

Kagura was so busy helping Q she wasn't paying attention to her flank, which explained why Kula Diamond was able to sneak up on her and freeze the demoness solid in ice. The young clone girl then proceeded to knock Kagura out of the ring with a well-placed kick.

Q was suddenly aware that Kagura was no longer launching her offensive. Looking over his shoulder the cyborg saw Kula skipping away merrily. Q tilted his head in confusion.

Genma saw his opening. Tumbling forward, the martial arts master scooped up Q and began hugging him, much like a father hugging his child.

A few seconds later Genma was careening towards the acid, wondering for the life of him how his greatest attack had failed.

****

IGP Hotel, Ranma's Room

Akane shook her head in disgust again. Faust just stared at the monitor.

"So… Its genetic I take it."

Akane sighed. "Yep."

"And you want to marry into this family…why?"

Akane sighed, "Not a day goes by I don't ask myself that."

****

The Ring

Q showed apathy (As usual) as he neared the panda that tried to squeezed the life out of him, and in a since, didn't care. Q simply took a step back, placed a hand on his mask, and breathed deeply.

By this time, Genma was upon the cyborg, and slashed at his armored chest. Q took it in kind by Dash Punching the panda in the mouth, before hugging the much larger bear himself.

The fighters watching knew exactly what was coming, and hit the dirt in the process. Q self-destructed; unleashing an explosion that charred the fur off Genma incinerating him completely. Q, unscathed for a second time, merely dusted himself from the ash and walked back towards the ring. Noticing Chipp Zanuff, he tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" Chipp barked.

The ninja got an uppercut as a response.

Meanwhile, Kirby, who had absorbed his power prior, began to Alpha Blade, Beta Blade, and Gamma Blade the living tar out of Dan and Hinata. Neither Dan nor Hinata (Mostly Hinata) were able to hit the little puffball either, because of the profound speed he acquired.

Hinata tried a kunai to him, but he quickly Rock Solid-ed and let the blade deflect off of him. The Hyuuga then tried a barrage of open-palm 'gentle fist' maneuvers, all of which Kirby Zanuff parried with lightning flipper attacks of his own. Kirby floated up, hit her with a drill kick, and ended the combo with a Beta Blade as good as the original. The resounding attack sent Hinata VERY close to the edge.

Dan, meanwhile, was unaffected by Kirby's dominance.

"Come, small, marshmallow, creampuff thing! Dan Hibiki shall show you how it's done!" Dan bellowed confidently, doing his patented taunt.

Kirby Zanuff rushed in with an Alpha Blade, but Dan quickly rolled backwards, kicking out at the puffball. Kirby air-dodged, pulled out a hammer, and somersaulted in mid-air, bashing away at Hibiki. Kirby followed up, with an entrapping Gamma Blade, and neared Dan, expecting elimination, before striking with a powerful kick.

Luckily for the Sakyo Master, Dan wriggled out of the net, and accidentally hit Kirby, knocking his Zanuff power out of him. Startled, Kirby simply opened wide, sucked Dan into his body, and absorbed him, resulting in Kirby in a stylish pink gi.

Up in the booth, Crinos groaned.

Kirby taunted Dan: Dan was slightly miffed.

"Hey! Nobody copies my moves without me teaching first!"

Dan finally did something right. The pink-gi wearing Dan rolled up to Kirby, and unleashed a Hisshou Barai-Ken upon the taunting puffball.

Say what you will about Dan's fighting ability; the Hisshou Barai-Ken STILL hurts. Kirby, knocked senseless, plummeted into the acid.

"Yahoo!" Dan shouted, celebrating his elimination with a taunt.

Twelve, nearby, responded with a fierce axe-slash to the back.

****

Eliminated Seating

For the second time during the Infinity Grand Prix, bets were being placed as Rock Lee and Vega squared off, kicking, punching, screaming and slashing at one another in harried fashion.

While Rock indeed had an advantage in terms of power, Vega had much more in sheer experience. However, as they both learned quickly, they were practically matched in terms of agility. Vega, true to form, would leap to the air, perching from anything from seats to other fighters' heads, and deliver Sky High Claws, Izuna Drops, and Barcelona Attacks, most of which were succeeding.

Needless to say, Rock was beginning to look like a fish that fought with a knife and lost.

The Spanish Shadoloo officer responded to his advantage by getting cocky. "Ugly rat... It was obvious that you could not defeat such a beauty as myself."

Rock wasn't in much of a mood to talk: He merely settled with a spinkick to Vega's gut: This sent the Spanish ninja reeling, which Rock continued with a combination of elbows to his mask. The force behind the elbows began to crack his infamous mask...until...

SNAP!

Vega probably would have said something in indignation, but Rock didn't give him the chance: The Azure beast rotated and planned on delivering a fierce martial arts kick with intention to bruise. But the de-masked Vega ducked at the last second, and swiped at Rock's back, removing him from the air.

Vega pressed his assault by taking to the skies, grabbing Rock Lee in an Izuna Drop, and tried to end this. Unfortunately for Vega, Rock was in a situation similar to Checkmate's Pile Driver Stallion Style, and was quick to worm his way out, around, and into a driver similar to the Forward Lotus Technique.

Vega's shoulders and spine collided with astounding force with the ground, removing the breath from his lungs (But, Ironically leaving his face unmarked), and successfully driving the fight out of him, for now. Rock, a bit worn out from blood loss, looked down at the ninja.

"Who's better looking now?"

Choi, meanwhile, smiled with glee as he reeled in the dough from the bets.

****

The Ring

The Howard squabble, back in the ring, was heating up again.

"REPPUKEN!"

"REPPUKEN!"

As both Howard's launched Reppuken after Reppuken, neither seemed keen on letting up. This projectile war had lasted for quite sometime. Although it was likely that intervention would easily halt the barrage, after Iruka's mistake, no one was willing to get in-between father and son.

Well, most people.

Rock's eyes swelled in surprise as his head swiftly collided with the ground after tasting Eagle's escrima sticks on his skull (His skull then ate the Reppuken meant for him). Eagle simply stepped over the son and charged Howard Senior.

"Idiot. This is...TOO EASY!" Geese said (Along with the crowd) as he caught Eagle's Manchester Green and slammed him to the ground with the Brit's momentum. Not stopping, Geese grabbed Eagle again, this time by the leg, and slammed him on top of Rock, damaging them both.

"Bloody Hell..." Eagle cursed as he righted himself; Geese again tried to focus on his son, but Eagle was, if nothing else, a persistent Brit. He again charged in, this time with another Manchester Green. Geese, upon realizing this, huffed in annoyance.

"Don't you get it? You make this so...PREDICTABLE!"

In a single, swift motion, Geese grabbed Eagle's wrist, hoisted him over his head, and flung him clear into the acid.

"Good Riddance."

Geese then looked around, and did not see Rock anywhere, finally spotting him in a fight with the merman. Geese made his way across the arena: Unfortunately, the crime lord found himself in-between the Cyborg Q and the ninja Chipp Zanuff. And despite his mastery of counter throws, even HE had difficulty keeping up with BOTH Chipp and Q.

Elsewhere, the sole War God in the ring, Maximus, zeroed in on Demitri.

"And you are, worm?" The Vampire replied, not even interesting in the War God's presence.

"To Hell with you, enslaver of souls! You shall not succeed!"

"Don't waste my time." Demitri, a little more than annoyed and still trying to regain his energy, fired an EX Chaos Flare. Maximus was ill equipped to deal with the flames of hell, so he was blasted back...

...Right into a stray bomb, courtesy of Bomberman. Forget getting blasted into the acid: The War God was completely incinerated.

Naturally, the crowd erupted in its patented chant.

"WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GODS SUCK!"

Up in the booth, Crinos looked at Washuu.

"So, whose elimination was that?" Crinos asked.

Washuu remarked, "Give that one to Bomberman. He planted the bomb."

"Very Well."

Back in the ring, B. B. Hood noticed the destructive display by the pint-sized Bomberman, and was miffed at the result. As a result, she pulled out her favorite Uzi and started firing at Bomberman.

Bomberman was scared for his life, as he and B.B. Hood dashed amongst the other fights. While normally, Bomberman would leave a bomb in store for the crazy bounty hunter, the hero was aware that he'd get blown up if a bullet hit his explosives. So, he kept running.

Ironically, Bomberman ran into Popo and Nana, who grabbed him, and pitched him across the ring (Hitting Zero, who was still feeling the effects of his last bombing). However, B.B. Hood came on them, knives drawn.

Popo rolled out of the way, but Nana got the full brunt of Hood's rage, receiving repeated slashes to her front before getting her throat slit. Her body quickly faded as it was taken into elimination.

Now enraged himself, Popo charged in with his hammer held high, but Hood, as usual, had a plan.

"Peace?" Hood said shyly. Popo, not the smartest Eskimo on the ice block, took the apple, watched as B.B. Hood strolled on by, and failed to notice the fuse in the stem. Moments later, Popo, eyebrows and parka singed to hell, was taking a swim in the acid.

B.B. Hood snickered as she picked a fight with Zappa, who had broken off from his fight with Captain America: In turn, Kevin Mask started in on the American Hero, suplexing the Avenger.

****

Backstage

"My, she has a mean streak worse than Fredrick," A highly cultured voice remarked, as he glared at the ongoings on the TV. He was again out for a stroll, anxiously awaiting his entry into the contest.

And his name was Slayer.

"How unusual the competition is...yet this bounty hunter seems to be as much of a firebrand as the one I know, personally."

Slayer, as an expert fighter and assassin, knew many things were going on, but he had yet to figure out exactly what. He just found another vampire, and two succubae, in the Grand Prix to be too much of a coincidence for his liking, not to mention the demons around the area.

As he continued to watch B.B. Hood pummel the tar out of the possessed Australian with her hand basket, the trained assassin felt an unnerving stare on his person, coming from a large eye.

Slayer didn't turn around, but continued smoking his pipe. "Telepathy won't work so easily on me, creature."

Shuma Gorath appeared out of the shadows, following Kikyo and followed by Shang Tsung, Blackheart, and Kusaregedo. Apparently, the collection of demons had no consideration over him, but he knew they were keeping a large eye on him: He was powerful enough to be considered a threat to any of them individually.

Slayer wasn't a fool, though. He had no intention of starting a fight, least of all with a gang of demons. Nor, apparently, did the demons, focused on another task. Still, he kept an ear open as they walked by.

"Pity the soul that crosses these demons, I guess."

'That would include you, vampire,' Shuma Gorath muttered as they passed.

Even after they passed, Slayer paid them a waning glance; He was not interested in starting a brawl with Mephisto's son's lot. But the octopus-like Shuma Gorath intrigued him.

"This keeps getting interesting," Slayer calmly said. It wouldn't be the last time they crossed paths.

The master assassin failed to notice the demonic shard that had gotten Shuma Gorath's attention, tucked away in his pocket.

****

The Ring

Ever since Geese's entrance into the rumble, Lin had suffered a fate very similar to Ramon's, though he did do relatively better. Why he had been getting his ass kicked by everyone at one point or another, The poison ninja got lucky and had gotten his kicks in on Genma, Bomberman, Kula Diamond, and more recently, Dan Hibiki and Twelve. As the android and the Sakyo master clashed against each other, Twelve getting the advantage, Lin took the opportunity to sneak in, avoiding Kevin Mask and Demitri in the process.

The first thing he did was knock the invisible Twelve out of his state, and booting him right into the Geese/Chipp/Q three way (Temporarily stopping the hostilities). The Hizoku ninja then struck Hibiki with rapid shots, slashing at Dan's distinct pink gi. Dan came in with a Dan-Dan kick, but Lin ducked, and countered with a Howard-esque toss from air to ground.

Then he noticed Hinata Hyuuga. Still in pain from Kirby's prior attack, the young Shinobi girl looked like an easy elimination for Lin. So, without so much as a sound, Lin grasped her leg, lifted her up, and tossed her like a sack of potatoes towards the Dead Pool.

A large cypress log splashed loudly in the acid. Lin blinked in confusion, then cursed under his breath.

By the time he realized his mistake, Hinata had already planted three gentle fist blows on his lung area. Lin struggled to breathe from the attack, but Hinata, regaining some of the confidence he had when scared to death by Akuma, continued with a light feather tap to where the heart would be, causing blood to well up in Lin's mouth.

Now, Lin is a much better ninja than Hinata by a long shot, but even the best will have difficulty fighting if their internal organs are damaged. Lin tried one more strike, but Hinata sidestepped, throwing the larger Lin over her shoulder, and into the pool. Hinata brushed her forehead, but was reminded where the hell she was when B.B. Hood and Zappa tried to run her over with a demon dog and an airful of grenades.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the ring, the action had halted: Q, Chipp Zanuff, Twelve, and Geese Howard stood in rectangular alignment, eyeing one another. Each was waiting for the slightest movement, before attack.

Twelve rotated his head and neck 180, checked on Kula (Who was freezing Makoto), and turned back to his adversaries, his arms turning to spikes in anticipation. The cyborg Q characteristically cocked his head, and stared impassively at Geese Howard. Chipp Zanuff tried to hide signs of fatigue, all while keeping his over-confident smirk. Geese, ticked that his fight with his estranged son was on hold (Rock, meanwhile, was getting double-teamed by Rikou and Sakura), hid his anger, only smiling evilly.

The crime boss set off the powder keg when he said, quietly, "Come on."

The fur flew as all four fighters converged on one another, failing to notice that the next section of warriors was about to appear.

****

IGP Hotel, near Room 123

The elevator bell dinged, signaling its stop on the floor.

Elena stepped out of the elevator; a bit worse for wear than when she came in, but still walking and STILL with her common, carefree smile on her face. Inside the elevator, Tesse looked like she had picked a fight with a sawblade and lost her body in multiple places inside the small elevator.

Elena knew Gaara might be on this floor, but exactly which room she didn't know.

Best start knockin' now, she thought.

****

End results

****

Makoto: 4.5, 2 eliminations

Geese Howard: 3, 2 eliminations

Bomberman: 3, 1 elimination

Hinata Hyuuga: 2.8, 1 elimination

BB Hood: 2.5, 1 elimination

Kula Diamond: 2.5, 1 elimination

Zero: 2.5, 1 elimination

Q: 2.3, 1 elimination

Sakura: 2.3, 1 elimination

Dan Hibiki: 2, 1 elimination

Zappa: 2, no elimination

Twelve: 2, no elimination

Captain America: 2, no elimination

Kevin mask: 1.8, no elimination

Rock Howard: 1.7, no elimination

Demitri Maximov: 1.5, no elimination

Rikou: 1.3, no elimination

Chipp Zanuff: 1, no elimination

Line of elimination

Kirby: 1, Eliminated

Ice Climbers: .6, eliminated

Slash: .5, eliminated

Lin: .5, eliminated

Genma Saotome: .4, eliminated

Ranma Saotome: .4, eliminated

Maximus: .14, Eliminated

Kagura: .1, eliminated

King Korn Karn: .1, eliminated

Eagle: .1, eliminated

Bonus Kun: .1, eliminated

Iruka: 0, fucking pwned

Bonus matches:

Elena (10) scraps Tesse (5)

Vega (6) aint pretty no more thanks to Rock lee (9)

Okay, no special notes this time around, I am sick of keeping track of it. Though I would like to once again thank Zudomon 50 for writing the second half of this section.


	15. Section 6

****

IGP Backstage

Naraku was starting to get a stitch in his side. This wasn't a good sign.

The evil half demon had been running since he had returned from the ring. Inuyasha and his comrades close on his heels. Naraku desperately searched for a way to elude his pursuers, but no such opening presented itself to him.

Naraku did consider stopping, calmly explaining he had lost the Shikon jewel in the ring (among other things, Naraku cursed Kagura, convinced that the conniving minion had a hand in the attack on his person in the ring) and that they should team up to find it. But he knew that Inuyasha and his friends wouldn't listen and, considering his penchant for deception and betrayal, believe him anyway.

Naraku looked behind him, seeing the same thing he saw the last time: a mad as hell Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku hot on his heels. It wasn't exactly a pleasant sight by any stretch of the imagination, and it distracted Naraku enough that he wasn't paying as much attention to his surroundings as he should have been.

This would explain why Naraku ran headlong into Alphonse Elrich. The half demon bounced off the armored alchemist and fell flat on his ass. Inuyasha and the others stopped in their tracks at the sight of the giant suit of armor standing before them, rather then attack Naraku.

"Um, excuse me." Alphonse said in the voice of a small boy, more than a little out of place coming from a giant suit of armor, "Which one of you is Sango?"

Sango, still a little shocked, pointed to herself. "Umm, that's me."

"Alright then, you're needed in the ring. The next section is starting up and you're the first fighter up."

Sango was shocked. She had sincerely lost track of the time and had forgotten all about the tournament, and also she didn't want to break away from the Naraku hunt to fight in it. Before she could reply, Kagome placed a hand on the young demon hunter's shoulder.

"Go ahead," the young priestess encouraged, "We can handle Naraku on our own."

Sango was unsure, "but I…"

"Listen to Kagome Sango," Inuyasha added in, "We can handle things from here." Inuyasha drove the Tetsaiga down, piercing part of Naraku's kimono. The half demon, which had been trying to crawl away, looked up with a nervous smile.

"Besides," Inuyasha said with a wicked smirk, "We'll be sure to save you some for when you get back."

Sango smiled and nodded then turned to Alphonse. "Okay, I'm ready."

Alphonse nodded back, "Alright. Right this way ma'am."

Sango followed Alphonse to the ring as Inuyasha and the other proceeded to beat the snot out of Naraku.

****

IGP: The Infinity Grand Prix

Section Six

The ring

After the familiar warping and falling in space, the fighters reappeared in the IGP ring, exactly the same as it was in the first section. The only difference being that instead of a pit with a net beneath the ring, there was now a swirling vortex of colors, similar to the vortex that once surrounded the ring.

"Ladies and gentlemen, once again, we have made a slight change in the fight proceedings," Crinos announced from the central office, "From now on, the IGP will mirror the UVR in the manner in which eliminations are handled. Fighters thrown out of the ring will be sent to a random node for 15 minutes, and be returned to our node when that time expires. In ring killings and incapacitation's are still allowed however, so feel free to go nuts out there."

Demitri Maximov was barely paying attention to the announcement, or to Chipp Zanuff (Who he was currently fighting, or rather dodging and parrying against). He was currently yelling at his hired samurai minion through telepathy.

'I can't believe I hired you…. Look, I don't care WHAT he did to your hair… yes I heard you…. I sincerely doubt you've quit better jobs than this… I DON'T CARE! DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET THE JOB DONE OR I SWEAR TO YOUR IMPUTENT GOD I'LL OPEN YOUR VEINS MYSELF.' Demitri severed his psychic connection to Genjuro and sent Chipp flying with a chaos flare. The vampire then angrily turned to greet the next contestant in the IGP.

****

Sango (I: AFF)

**_'Cause it makes me that much stronger_**

Makes me work a little bit harder

It makes me that much wiser

So thanks for making me a fighter

Made me learn a little bit faster

Made my skin a little bit thicker

Makes me that much smarter

So thanks for making me a fighter

Sango accompanied by her demon cat Kilala, made her way down to the ring. She was more than a little distracted, having left her friends in the middle of their pursuit and fight with Naraku. But she had signed a contract to fight in this tournament, and like any good demon hunter she was determined to fulfill her obligation to her client.

Leaping into the ring, Sango looked around for potential targets. A target found her as Demitri Maximov hurled a chaos flare in her direction. The demon hunter blocked it with her giant boomerang then turned to face the vampire.

"Huh, hate to say I've never seen a demon like you before." Sango said, looking Demitri up and down. The vampire laughed.

"Is that so? How unfortunate for you, I was hoping for a challenge." Demitri sneered as he gathered up energy for another chaos flare.

Sango smirked, "Alright Kilala, sic em!"

Kilala did just that, much to Demitri's surprise the tiny cat grew in a burst of flame to the size of a tiger and charged. Knocking Demitri down and clamping her teeth down on the vampires arm.

Sango smirked as Demitri thrashed from underneath Kilala. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad afterall.

Sakura and Hinata, who were currently double teaming Kula and Twelve, suddenly noticed something from above. Sakura noticed by feeling a massive chi, bigger than any she had felt before. Hinata could see it by virtue of her evil eye ability, but to her all she saw was a giant green dot plummeting down from above.

The two were not alone in their discovery, soon everyone was aware of the plummeting object, fighters moved away from the center of the ring, not wanting to be caught underfoot.

"What is it?" Kevin Mask asked aloud.

"It's a meteor!" Makoto suggested.

"Maybe it's a downed spy satellite," thought Zero aloud.

"Maybe the Zero cannon fired," Offered Kula, sincerely hoping she was mistaken.

Captain America simply shook his head. He knew what it was.

"That's none other than…"

****

The Hulk (MvsC2)

Bruce Banner, otherwise known as the Incredible Hulk (Or in his current state, merged or "professor" Hulk), landed in the middle of the ring with a massive boom, fighters were thrown all over the place from the shock wave the gamma person had created with his landing.

The Hulk gave a tired yawn as he surveyed the ring. "Sorry I'm late everyone. Just got out of bed and got the call to come down here. So what I miss?"

Hulks answer came in the form of a charging star from Captain America. The Avenger knew first hand how tough the Hulk was and wanted to eliminate him as quickly as humanly possible.

Unfortunately Hulk was as tough as they come, and had barely noticed the charging star. The jade giant turned to face Captain America as he wobbled backwards.

"Hey there Cap," Hulk greeted with a wave, "How's life treating ya?"

Cap took a deep breath and charged again, this time Hulk simply pushed the avenger back with his hand.

"Oh come on Cap, we both know your no match for me, hell. The AVENGERS en masse can't take me. And you know why? Cause I'm the Hulk…" Hulk put a hand up to his ear in Hulk Hogan fashion.

"…AND HULK'S THE STRONGEST ONE THERE IS!" The crowd answered.

"That so?"

Hulk turned around to see Geese Howard standing behind him, arms folded.

"You're the strongest one there is?" Geese asked.

Hulk smiled, "That's what they tell me."

Geese suddenly dashed towards Captain America. The Avenger was too shocked to evade Geese's spinning kick and was sent sprawling; Geese turned back to the Hulk.

"Sorry pal," Geese pointed to himself with his thumb, "But I'M the strongest there is. Geese Howard. And no green skinned steroid freak is going to upstage me."

Hulk laughed and gave a shrug, "Alright tough guy, its your funeral. Come get some."

Geese began to step forward, but then felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he saw Rock behind him.

"Hey 'dad', don't forget, you fighting me. Not this green guy."

Geese replied by grabbing his son's hand and throwing him into the corner of the ring. The crime boss loomed over his son.

"Don't make me laugh boy. You're no match for me, anyway I have a…" Geese was interrupted by a fireworks explosion at the arena entrance, Geese smirked. "Well, looks like that buffoon will come in handy afterall." Geese was of course referring to the next fighter in the IGP…

****

Raiden (CvS2)

"YEAH! RAIDEN'S TOUGH! RAIDEN WILL CRUSH YOU ALL! YEAH!" the burly masked wrestler taunted as he went down to the ring. Climbing in, he was beckoned over by Geese.

"Raiden, make yourself useful and beat up my kid for me, I've got… other concerns right now."

"OKAY GEESE! RAIDEN WILL BREAK HIM! RAIDERN WILL MAKE HIM BLEED!"

Rock was, understandably, upset with this new development. "Hey! I came here to fight YOU Geese. Not this fat has been wrestler!"

"You haven't earned the right to fight me you useless brat!" Geese retorted as Raiden approached the downed Howard, "Beat Raiden here and we'll talk."

Geese turned back to the Hulk, who had changed from before. His once happy smile had been replaced with a stern glare, centered on Geese.

"So…" The Jade giant said, anger in his voice, "You're an abusive dad?"

Geese shrugged, "Actually I'm a neglectful dad but I can be flexible. Is this a problem?"

Hulk answered with a clothesline swing at Geese. The crime boss rolled underneath and narrowly avoided being stomped into custard as he rolled underneath Hulk's legs.

"HULK SMASH!" The Gamma giant bellowed as he swung again.

Geese smiled, "since were exchanging catch phrases, Ill give you mine."

Geese caught the Gamma titan's fist with both hands and twisted, sending Hulk sprawling to the ground.

"Die Yabo." The crime boss said gravely.

****

IGP Hotel

Elena knocked on a door, no answer. Elena knocked on a second door, again no response. Elena knocked on a third door and was starting to get pissed.

"Oh fudge," The African princess pouted, "Where is that ninja?"

"Excuse me miss…"

Elena turned to see Kusaregedo, Blackheart, Shuma Gorath, Kikyo, Shang Tsung and Blackheart standing before her. The street fighter was so shocked she stumbled backwards and fell on her back.

Blackheart, the one who had addressed her, spoke again. "I couldn't help but overhear you looking for a ninja. By any chance it wouldn't be the Bushin master Guy would it."

Elena shook his head, then realized she had heard that name before. "Why are you looking for Guy? Is he in trouble?"

Shang Tsung answered as the demons walked past, "He will be when were done with him." Elena quickly rose to her feet and resolved to speed up her search for Gaara.

****

The Ring

Rai (WW7)

"YEAR!"

The blue clad, goggle-wearing boy rode down the ramp on a ten speed bike, jumping off it on the ramp the young fighter landed in the middle of the ring.

"Hey, are you Captain America?" The young boy asked, helping the prone avenger to his feet.

"Yeah… that's me." Was Cap's reply.

"Cool. My name is Rai, and I fight against evil just like you! Wanna bust up some Badguy's?"

Cap smiled, "Alright then, lets go."

As it turned out, the bad guys found them, Kula and twelve to be precise. Sneaking up from behind, Kula froze Rai and sent him flying with a kick, while Twelve morphed into a clone of Cap and began to trade blows with him.

****

Eliminated seating

"It's about time you showed up." Dandy J muttered as Slash stepped out of the infirmary, the lipstick marks on his face were a tell tale sign as to why he had been held up, "Lets get going, we got to get our gems back from that kid with the gourd and no eyebrows."

"Shouldn't we wait for Tesse?" The young girl on Mauru's back suggested.

Dandy J shook his head, "Nah, if she hasn't come back by now, she probably aint coming back at all. Probably lost to that naked jungle chick. So its just the three of us to fight that guy."

"Why are you lumping me in with this?" Slash asked as he took a seat. Dandy J and Mauru looked astonished by this reply.

"What? Don't you care that bloke made off with three of our Waku-Waku gems? Or that he eliminated me Mauru and Tesse?" Dandy asked.

"Not even a little," Slash replied, "Besides its your own fault: Tesse and Mauru tried to mess with him in the ring, and you let yourself get distracted by him so that wolf demon could off you. But I got no beef with this guy, so if you don't mind, I wanna sit here and watch Rai get his ass handed to him. I think I deserve that much."

Dandy J growled in frustration, "Fine! Suit yourself! Me and Mauru here will take out that kid, lets go find em!"

It turns out they didn't have far to go to find Gaara. He and his partners Temari and Kankuro were standing in the doorway of the eliminated seating.

"Which one of you is Slash?" Gaara asked.

Slash looked up at Gaara. "That would be me. What seems to be the trouble?"

"You have something I need, the gem you have, hand it over." Was the sand ninja's reply.

Slash sighed and stood up, "Always got to be something." Slash turned to Dandy J, "Well you wanted to pick a fight with this guy? Looks like your gonna get one."

Dandy considered just hanging back and letting the three ninja beat the tar out of Slash. But that wasn't Dandy's style, and besides which Mauru would help no matter what Dandy said. "Right then, lets do this."

"You know, " Temari pointed out, "We don't have to fight, you could just give us the stupid gem and we wont have to kill you."

"Sorry dearie," Slash said as Dandy J and Mauru took their places next to him, "But that would set a bad precedence, we have to fight for the gems."

Temari sighed and took a battle stance, as did the other sand Nin. For the third time that night, bets were being placed on which team would win the fight.

****

The ring

Anubis (WG)

"WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GODS SUCK!" The familiar chant sounded. Anubis didn't care, the crowd wasn't saying anything that wasn't true and that he didn't already know.

Anubis didn't harbor any illusions of victory. He didn't even expect to last longer than a minute in there. As a matter of fact, the only way the jackal headed war god had found the courage to even come down ringside was to get totally tore up on the cheap whiskey the tournament proprietors had been so kind to supply him.

This of course also meant Anubis was more than a little tipsy. Demonstrated by Anubis' attempt to enter the ring ending with him getting tangled up in the ropes.

****

Venom (MvsC2)

Eddy Brock, otherwise known as the murderous vigilante Venom, stepped onto the runway in civilian clothes. Surveying the ring, he took note of the current situation among the fighters.

"Hmm, Parker isn't in the ring yet. No matter," Brock smiled as his clothed morphed into his venom uniform, covering his face with his trademark giant mouth, "We can keep ourselves busy till he shows up."

Venom web swung down into the ring, catching Geese Howard by surprise and knocking the crime boss prone. Hulk and Venom looked at each other, then smiled.

As Geese rose to his feet he saw the duo standing side by side, their arms folded.

"Its over criminal, you're officially out of business." Venom spoke first.

"You're a wimp Geese Howard, a frightened mouse of a man." Hulk added in.

"And were here," The two spoke in unison, "To beat (Clap) You up!"

The groaning of the audience could literally be heard from space. Geese shook his head in disgust.

"You think you can beat me boys? Give it a shot. I'll paint my house… with your blood."

Venom and Hulk replied by charging full steam.

****

IGP hotel, Goentiz's suite

Ryuji Yamakazi sauntered in, his arm swaying beside him. His entrance was not completely unknown.

"Dear lord!" Chris, who had been nursing his bruises on the couch, exclaimed, "He's come to finish the job!"

"Somebody throw me out the window!" Yashiro, who was sitting across from Chris, shrieked.

"Will you both shut up?" Goentiz exclaimed as he stepped out from another room, Leona in tow. The Ikari warrior was staring at the floor, her hair having turned from blue to bright pink. "Ryuji is on our side remember?"

"Try telling him that!" Chris said, still obviously shaking.

"Yeah, that guy…" Yashiro began, then he suddenly noticed something, "that guy looks just like you!"

Goentiz looked at himself in the mirror, then looked at Yamakazi. "Hey yeah, we do look alike, weird huh?"

Yamakazi cleared his throat. "Hey! Idiot, gay idiot and relatively good looking idiot," Yamakazi addressed Chris, Yashiro and Goentiz respectively, "I was told by the manly looking chick that there would be money and power increases available here. Now cough em up or I'll put a cigarette out in your damn eye."

Goentiz considered, "But you don't smoke."

Yamakazi smiled, "I can be convinced to start."

"Cute," Goenitz stepped to the side, pulling Leona to the side as well, "Right this way, and you'll get everything you could possibly need."

Yamakazi smiled and walked past Goenitz, making sure to goose Leona as he did. The young woman did not react to Yamakazi's touch except to growl a bit.

"Oh my look at the time," Goenitz looked down at his watch, "Leona sweetie, its almost show time."

Leona snarled again and staggered out the door, down towards the ring. She would be fighting next section, and Goenitz was sure it would be a show nobody would ever forget.

****

The ring

Bass Armstrong (DOA2)

"YEAH! WHAT YOU GONNA DO BROTHER? BASSAMANIA RUNNIN WILD IN THE IGP ARENA! WHOOH!" The giant wrestler and latest mystery fighter boasted as he ran down into the ring. Upon entering, he singled out Kevin Mask, the only other wrestler in the ring that wasn't Raiden.

"You think you can handle Bassamania brother?" the Hulk Hogan parody taunted, "You think you can tackle a living legend?"

Kevin Mask shrugged, "I guess I can, but quick question, that was you at the bar last night yelling at that chick for wearing such a skimpy outfit right?"

Bass's eyes narrowed, "You mean my daughter Tina?"

Kevin smiled, though you couldn't tell for the mask, "Yeah her, say, you're her dad, so do you have her cellphone number? I was going to get it at the bar but obviously I didn't get the chance."

Bass's response was to bellow with rage and charge with the force of a super chief. Kevin ducked under the telegraphed clothesline and performed a leg takedown on the wrestler, turning it into a figure four-leg lock.

"Hey," Kevin said as he tried his damnedest to pry Bass's legs out of their sockets, "I guess Bass Armstrong DOESN'T know best does he? DOES HE?"

"Oh shut UP!" Bass growled as he strained against the smaller yet somehow much stronger Chojin.

****

Potemkin (GGXX)

__

Big time

I'm on my way-I'm making it

Big time big time

I've got to make it show yeah

Big time big time

So much larger than life

Big time

I'm going to watch it growing

Big time

Potemkin, the Zeppian champion, entered the ring in a fashion similar to the hulk before him: Plummeting from the sky and landing in the ring with a boom. As the huge Zeppian looked for a good potential opponent, a potential opponent found him when Bomberman slid a bomb between the Zeppian's legs.

The Explosion would have knocked a normal man prone. But Potemkin was hardly a normal man by any stretch. The giant man was barely effected as he looked down at the panicking Bomberman.

"So, want to fight me first then?" Potemkin asked, Bomberman responded by running away shrieking.

As Potemkin gave chase, Chipp Zanuff, who was trading blows with Hinata Hyuuga, noticed his presence. "Hey, that's the guy who knows Slayer." Chipp muttered under his breath, "I better take him out before that blood sucking bastard shows up."

Chipp caught Hinata's gentle fist and punched her hard in the stomach, sending the leaf ninja sailing. The American ninja then took off after Potemkin.

****

IGP Hotel, Ranma's suite

Ranma opened the door of his hotel room to be greeted by Akane and Faust. "Not one word, from either of you." Ranma muttered.

After an awkward silence, Akane asked an obvious question, "Where's your father?"

Ranma shrugged, "Last I saw him he was heading to the snack stands with the last of our money. With any luck the old fart will get arrested as a wild animal and thrown into a cell. Then we can leave and pretend we forgot him."

Faust was shocked by the harshness of Ranma's words, "Dude, I know you lost, but isn't that a bit much?"

Akane looked at Faust, "Believe me, if you knew anything about Genma you'd agree with Ranma on this one."

"Ah well," Faust said, standing up, "Lets look on the bright side: Demitri can't do anything while he's in the ring. Genjuro is at least temporarily out of the running thanks to yours truly, and all the ladies are present and accounted for."

"Speaking of present and accounted for," Akane asked, "Where are those friends of yours Faust? The busty green haired chick and the red haired samurai?"

"Were right here," Morrigan answered as she, Kenshin, Lillith, and the members of the so-called "Kenshin's group" filed into the room. "We've got an update, where's the vampire hunter?"

"Consoling the inconsolable Shampoo I believe" Faust explained, "Ukyo is sleeping off her minor head injury incurred in the ring, and as for Kodachi, well…"

"Yeah?" Morrigan inquired.

"Well… she did wake up, but after a few minutes talking to her I decided that keeping her sedated with morphine would be a wise move at this juncture." Faust explained.

"The irony of which isn't lost on me." Akane pointed out with the slightest hint of satisfaction.

Kenshin sighed, "We do not have time for this, We must find the soul edge pieces quickly, before Demitri is eliminated."

Faust and Akane looked at each other, "Soul edge pieces?"

Morrigan grabbed Faust by the arm, "I'll explain on the way, you come with me, my sister and Kenshin, and Kenshin's little friends can stay here in case Genjuro shows up."

"You can count on us!" Sannoske said, pumping his fist, "We can handle anything this Genjuro can toss at us."

Kenshin smiled, "Good to hear Sano, we'll be back soon."

"Hey wait!" Ranma said in a huff, "What about me?"

Morrigan smirked, "What about you? Stay here and watch your women. We'll take care of the scavenger hunt stuff."

"What about Belmont?" Faust asked.

Morrigan frowned, "I don't exactly trust him, besides he might be useful if Maximov shows up, so he stays here."

"Right then, lets move out!" Kenshin said as the four headed out to search for soul edge pieces.

Unbeknownst to anyone, one of the soul edge pieces was closer than anyone suspected. Humming silently in Ranma's pocket since he picked it up on the way back to the hotel was a piece of soul edge, slowly but surely infecting the young martial artist with its power.

****

The Ring

Optimus Prime (DMTV: WF)

__

Transformers, more than meets the eye,

Transformers, robots in disguise!

The Autobot symbol flashed across the jumbotron as Optimus Prime rolled down the runway in truck form. The cheering of the audience was the loudest it had been all night; some diehard fans even gave the Autobot leader a standing salute as he transformed into his robot shape and leapt into the ring.

Q, who had been bored stiff slapping around BB Hood, shoved her away and turned to Prime. The Autobot was the largest thing currently in the ring (And considering the ring also had the Hulk and Potemkin in it that's really saying something.) and Q was feeling more than a little lucky.

Prime didn't notice Q as he surveyed the ring. "Huh, no Megatron, guess he isn't coming out till later. Now lets see, I'd rather not fight against humans if I can help it, so I need to find a robot…"

Prime's eyes fell on Zero, who was currently fending off Zappa, who had somehow conjured a huge glowing monster of energy and was now trying to smash the little Reploid to bits. Prime sighed, it wasn't much of a robot, but it would have to do.

Suddenly Prime was on his back. It didn't take long to find out why though: Q had grabbed the Autobot leader by the leg and forced him to the ground. Q was now on top of Prime, pounding on him with open palmed slaps.

Prime wasn't really hurt by this of course; he had laughed off much worse. But the sheer surprise of the attack was enough to stun him for a second.

The second immediately following that second Prime brushed Q off him like a gnat. Rising up, the Autobot glared down at the mysterious cyborg as he righted himself.

"Alright then, I'm not sure if you're a robot or not, but you asked for it… time to TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT!"

Peoples heads exploded the cheering were so loud. A second later Q was desperately running for his life as a 16 wheeler bared down on him. Other fighters made sure to remove themselves from the path of the truck as it wheeled around the ring.

****

Vance McMadd (GWFUM)

The Short, pudgy owner of the GWF chuckled to himself as he waddled down to the ring in wrestling gear that MIGHT have fit him twenty years ago. Vance didn't care about winning the title, he was only competing as a publicity stunt, but the money he was making for the appearance of the galactic wrestlers in the IGP was making him drool just by thinking about it.

Entering the ring, Vance went over to Kevin Mask, who had Bass Armstrong tied up in the ropes. He tapped the Chojin on the shoulder than whispered something in his ear.

"You want me to what?" Kevin said in astonishment.

"You heard me kid," Vance repeated, "Let me throw you out of the ring this section, it will make me look good."

"Under no circumstances!" Kevin Mask said, folding his arms, "I may be a bad guy, but even I have my pride!"

Vance started to get angry, "You better let me throw you out, or its curtains for you and your dad as far as the muscle league is concerned!"

Kevin was about to reply when Anubis, finally free of the ropes, came over and nearly broke his quarterstaff over the wrestling managers head.

The sound of cheering was unfamiliar to Anubis, he was more used to screams, or more often, boos. But something in his liquor-muddled brain told him those cheers were for him. The War God shakily raised his arms in triumph, only to get knocked down by Hollywood Bass, who had also freed himself of the ropes.

Kevin, no longer interested, went to go pick a fight with Potemkin.

****

IGP Bathroom

Kevin Keene whistled as he washed his hands. He had been drinking soda since the IGP started and he had just felt the need to "Fire off his energy pistol" (if you catch my meaning). Kevin figured he had plenty of time since his old friend Mega man wasn't due in the ring for at least a few more sections. As Kevin dried off he wondered to himself if his old friend still remembered him.

"Excuse me, are you Captain N? The game master?"

Kevin turned to see a tall one-eyed man dressed in army fatigues standing before him. "Uh, yeah that's me." Kevin said with uncertainty.

"I'm sorry to be so abrupt, my name is Heidern, and I need that controller." Heidern pointed to the Nintendo controller grafted to the game master's belt.

Kevin grabbed the belt jealously, "No way! I need this to fight the forces of evil! Get your own!"

"I can't! there out of circulation!" Heidern exclaimed, the sound of irritation creeping into his voice, "and I can't use the Game Cube controller, thing looks like an octopus raped a cell phone."

Kevin shook his head; "Oh don't get me started on the Game Cube controller. But still, no dice pal."

Heidern cracked his knuckles, "Alright kid, were doing this the hard way then."

Kevin pulled out his light gun, "I guess we are."

****

The ring

Bao (KOF 2k1)

__

Ever since I was a young boy,

I've played the silver ball.

From soho down to Brighton

I must have played them all.

But I ain't seen nothing like him

In any amusement hall...

That deaf dumb and blind kid

Sure plays a mean pinball!

Bao, the youngest member of the Psycho soldiers, made his way down to the ring whistling a merry tune. The crowd's reaction was not a positive one: The young psychic got more boos than the War Gods and Tyson combined.

Bao wasn't paying attention, he had too much on his mind. He had not been with Athena yesterday when the demon had attacked her, but he had heard about it from Sie. Bao didn't understand what was going on, but he was still worried about Athena.

Jumping into the ring, Bao leaned up against the roped for some support, smiling the young psycho soldier launched himself into the air, forming an energy barrier around his body. Bao bounced off the ropes as he sped around the ring, smashing into anyone slow or distracted enough not to get out of the way.

It was a sound, if unpredictable, stratagem. In his current state Bao was moving to fast and too randomly for anyone to effectively focus an attack on him. Unfortunately the final fighter to enter the ring this section halted his strategy.

****

Earthquake (SVC Chaos)

"Heehaw! I've been waitin longer than a cobra waits for a mouse convention for my shot in the ring!" the giant ninja boasted as he lumbered down to the ring. Up in the ring, Washuu and Crinos cursed the luck of the drawings this section. There was now over four tons of weight occupying the ring. Earthquake himself weighed in the neighborhood of a ton. There was some serious discussion among the technicians if the ring could support Earthquake along with everyone else.

Their fears were assuaged when Earthquake belly flopped into the ring. Makoto and Rai only narrowly escaping being flattened into pancakes. The ring bounced a bit from the giant ninjas plummeting, but held its integrity.

Earthquake stood up and looked around for someone to pummel. As it turns out, somebody found him. Bao, unable to really control WHERE he was going, accidentally slammed into Earthquakes gut. Rather than bounce off, the psychic sank into Earthquake's flab and fell to the ground.

Earthquake smirked at the tiny psychic, "Well boy, you're in more trouble than a drunk caterpillar at a scorpion ice cream social."

Bao stared at Earthquake for a second. "A what?"

Earthquake answered by trying to stomp on Bao's head. The young psychic gave out an eep and rolled out of the way, the burly ninja-giving chase.

****

Backstage

Roll gulped nervously as she watched the monitor. She was slated to go on in the next section and she was nervous of having to fight with so many big guys.

"Calm down Roll." The young robot told herself, "You have to be tough. Mega man wouldn't be scared of those big guys."

But she wasn't Mega man. And Roll knew it. All she Roll was is a simple house-cleaning robot with some last second weaponry installed "just in case." She could hold her own in a fight, but she was no Mega Man.

Looking down at her feet, Roll noticed a tiny glinting piece of metal. Picking it up, Roll began to scan it. Much to her surprise she could not determine its make up.

Roll considered the strange material, then remembered something Dr. Light had once told her: how humans used to have something called "good luck charms" which they though could help them succeed. Roll had never seen a "good luck charm," so it seemed logical this metal was such a charm.

"I hope you can help me be a winner." Roll said, placing the little piece of metal in her pocket. Little did Roll realize that the Soul Edge piece would give her more than she bargained with, much more.

WHO WILL WIN?

WHO WILL DIE?

WHO WILL GET CAPTAIN N'S PANTS?


	16. Section 6 results

IGP Bathroom 

Peter Parker, otherwise known as the Spectacular Spider-man, had to go, like ten seconds ago.

It had been an uneventful morning for the wall-crawler. He simply waited in his room with MJ watching the tournament, rooting on Captain America and laughing uproariously as he tried to take on the Hulk single handedly.

Peter had decided to stay in for the most part, the main reason being that he couldn't take two steps without his spider-sense going crazy. Between demons, would-be world conquerors, insane cultists and evil space creatures there was good reason for his Spider-sense to be acting up. But the rules of the tournament clearly said no fighting outside the ring, and Peter didn't want to get busted by the seemingly non-existent security. After all, he had a bad enough rep without adding this to it. So he decided to simply avoid the villains altogether and stay in rather than tempt fate.

But he was due on in the next section, and he could hide no longer. So kissing his wife goodbye Parker swung his way down to the arena in order to wait in the green room for his turn in the fray.

Unfortunately he arrived about the same time Venom had entered the ring. Parker considered it good fortune that he had not run into his mildly insane archrival before now, and was surprised that he had even been invited to the tournament.

Surprise turned to fear when Spider-man realized that he was on next section, and there was a good chance he facing down both the Hulk and Venom in the ring at the same time.

Luckily there was a convenient soda fountain nearby, and three gallons of Mr. Pib later Spider-man felt a little better about his predicament.

Then he had to go really bad.

As Spider-man reached forward to open the door, he felt his spider-sense go off. Inside, he heard what sounded like a struggle. Steeling himself, Parker readied for action. Tournament rules be dammed, swollen bladder be damned. There was a person in need, and Spider-man was going to help him. For as his Uncle Ben had often told him: With Great Power comes great responsibility.

"Give me those pants boy!"

"Never!"

Peter's eyes widened at the site before him: A young, brown haired boy in a varsity jacket was on the ground. Standing above him was what looked like a Green Beret with one eye. The boy's pants were at half-mast, the Green Beret's hands clasped around the belt, struggling to pull them off as the boy protested. The pair stopped their struggle and looked at Spider-man

"Uh, sorry, I'll use another Bathroom." Peter said sheepishly as he slowly backed out of the bathroom. Great responsibility would just have to take one for the team on this one.

IGP: The Infinity Grand Prix 

**Section 6 results**

**The ring**

Kilala went flying into Sango, and they both went flying into the ropes. Demitri brushed himself off as he loomed over the fallen duo. The demonic fire cat had savaged Demitri quite well, leaving deep claw and teeth marks in the vampires hide. Naturally, this didn't sit very well with Demitri.

"Girl," Demitri snarled, "You die NOW!"

Sango shakily rose to her feet, as did Kilala. Gritting her teeth, the young demon hunter hurled her Boomerang with tremendous force, aiming for Demitri's head.

The Vampire lord chuckled, ducking the attack and drawing a rose. He had planned to only sire the Ranma girls today, but he couldn't pass up such ripe prey when it just threw itself at him.

Unfortunately for Demitri, he was not very knowledgeable of the workings of a boomerang, and was caught totally by surprise when the large weapon caught him upside the head. Sending him flying towards Sango and Kilala.

Kilala knew what to do. She quickly pounced up and caught Demitri by the throat, using the vampire's momentum to fling him out of the ring as Sango caught her boomerang.

Demitri could have saved himself from elimination, but then he realized that this might be an opportunity in disguise. Genjuro seemed totally inept without his aide, and his new wives weren't going to enslave themselves. Perhaps it was time, Demitri reasoned, to take a personal hand in matters.

As Demitri vanished into the dimensional vortex, Sango could have sworn the vampire was smiling.

Demitri landed in a misty London street. Demitri looked around and nodded, these would certainly be acceptable surroundings for the next 15 minutes. Taking a deep breath, Demitri prepared to make mental contact with his Samurai minion.

"Out for an evening stroll friend?"

Demitri turned to see a figure dressed in bright red emerge from a dark alley. The figure had dark long hair, glasses and white gloves. In his hands he clutched two guns. One of the guns, a black on, had the phrase "Jesus Christ is in heaven" inscribed on the side of the barrel.

Demitri glared at the stranger with contempt. "Be gone pest, I have no time for…" Demitri then took a second, closer look at the stranger, and then smiled. "Oh forgive me; I was unaware that you were a vampire too."

The man in red smiled. "Quite alright, I don't think we've been introduced. My name is Alucard."

The figure gave out a sinister laugh, which disquieted even Demitri. Little did either vampire realize that they were about to have the fight of their after-lives.

Back in the ring, Geese Howard was having the time of his life.

Hulk had the advantages of superior strength and size. Geese had the edges of speed, skill, experience and all around cussedness. The odds tipped heavily in Hulk's favor, but Geese wasn't about to let that stop him.

The crime boss effortlessly dodged as Hulk swung at him, and then he followed up with a Reppuken to the face. Hulk didn't even flinch as he reached out to grab Geese. Geese ducked the grab, and then leapt back to avoid the fanged tentacles that quickly erupted beneath him.

Venom had been behind Hulk since the fight started. Every time he tried to move around to get at Geese, the crime boss would shift in a way that it kept the Hulk between them. This was sound planning in the part of Geese; He was having a hard enough time with the Hulk, If Venom were allowed to get more than the occasional long range attack in on Geese he would have been ground into paste by now.

Unfortunately for Geese, Hulk and Venom were the least of his worries (if you can believe it).

Raiden fell to his knees, the world around him spinning. Rock had pounded the giant wrestler's head in quite thoroughly and it looked like he was about done.

"Last warning Raiden," Rock said the slightest tinge of remorse in his voice, "get out of my way. I have no beef with you; I just want my dad."

"NO! RAIDEN IS STRONG! RAIDEN IS BAD! RAIDEN…" The Wrestler began to sway, obviously dizzy, "Raiden… needs to lie down…. Raiden doesn't feel too good."

Rock gave a sigh, hoisted the giant wrestler up, and threw him from the ring. Raiden landed on top of a huge tower in the middle of a thunderstorm, he was greeted by an ominous figure.

"Well now," Raiden the thunder god exclaimed as he looked over Raiden the wrestler, a large hammer slumped over his shoulder, "So you're the one that's been using MY name without MY permission. Isn't that right?"

Raiden (the fat one) swallowed nervously, "Uh, Raiden can be convinced to change his name. How does 'Big Bear' sound to you?"

Raiden (The god) snickered, "Or better yet? How about 'care bear'," Raiden hefted his hammer, "INTENSIVE CARE BEAR!"

The wrestler formerly known as Raiden cried for his mommy.

Backstage 

"I found another piece," Kaoru said triumphantly, hoisting the soul edge shard high for all to see, "That makes three counting the one you had Morrigan."

"Whooptie do," Morrigan said sarcastically, twirling her finger in the air, "I still can't believe you dove into a Dumpster to get it. Really, have you no shame?"

Lillith, Yahiko and Sannoske laughed at the sight. Kaoru was standing knee deep in the trash, covered with gunk from digging through the mess. A discarded banana peel rested on her head.

"HEY!" Kaoru snarled angrily, "We need the soul edge shards for Kenshin's new sword. And I only dove in cause none of you had the guts for it!" the young swords woman turned to her beau, "Isn't that right Kenshin?"

Kenshin didn't reply, he was looking around the empty garage with a determined look, as if trying to ascertain the presence of an unseen foe.

"Kenshin? Something the matter?" Morrigan purred as she wrapped her arms around Kenshin from behind, smooshing the back of his head against her breasts. Kaoru developed an angry eye twitch in response, while Kenshin developed a severe nosebleed.

"I sensed something watching us, something evil," Kenshin explained after prying himself from Morrigan's grasp and regaining his composure, "I believe that we are not the only ones with designs on this 'Soul Edge' that I do."

Morrigan shrugged, "It matters not, if there is some vermin watching us then let him watch. We'll cross that bridge when we…. Get…to…"

Morrigan doubled over with a severe case of shivering. Faust, who had just returned from the bathroom (and from wresting a soul edge piece from a rather reluctant Karnov at the expensive of about a metric ton of chili dogs), helped the succubae to her feet.

"What is it?" Sano asked.

"Demitri, he's just been eliminated, a few moments ago." Morrigan said; sweat beading from her brow, "He'll be meeting up with that Samurai of his when he gets back from elimination."

"So we should hurry I take it?" Faust mused to no one in particular.

"It's worse than that I'm afraid," Morrigan swallowed nervously, "He's hooking up with Pyron as well."

A few minutes of telling silence later…

"Alright," Morrigan said, mildly annoyed, "I'm going to assume none of you know Pyron, even second hand, am I right?"

Everyone nodded dumbly, including Lillith, who had not been alive when Pyron was first defeated and withered into obscurity. Morrigan took a cleansing sigh.

"Alright, I'll explain while we search for soul edge shards. We have no time to waste, let's GO!"

As Morrigan and the other filed out to find more shards, a cloaked figure watched from a distance with interest.

"Hmmm…." Nightmare, the evil warrior formerly known as Sigfried pondered, "Perhaps I should look into this 'Pyron', and this 'Demitri' as well."

As if on cue, a large raven landed on Nightmares clawed hand. The grimy bird croaked with glee as it dropped a shard of the soul edge from its mouth.

"Nicely done my pet," Nightmare stroked the birds head with his free, humanlike, hand, "Now, go follow the demoness and her servants. When they gather the remainder of the shards, come get me."

The raven crowed at his master and took off after the group of heroes. Nightmare chuckled to himself as he lumbered in the opposite direction towards the elimination seating.

**The ring**

Rock Howard grabbed his father, who was distracted by the Hulk and Venom, from behind. He proceeded to pound the crime boss into submission and throw him out of the ring, thus avenging himself and his mother against all the pain and heartache Geese had caused them, and freeing himself from the curse of the Howard family.

At least, that was the plan; unfortunately it didn't exactly happen that way.

"Hey there, Rock was it?" the junior Howard turned to face Dan Hibiki, who had a broad grin across his face.

Rock was understandably confused, "Uh… something I can help you with?"

"Well," the Sakiyo master spoke, "I heard of your plight backstage, and I'd like to help you with avenging your father."

Rock processed the information for a second, and then laughed. "Sorry stranger, I think you're mixed up a bit. I'm not trying to avenge my father; I'm trying to destroy my father."

Dan looked shocked, then angry, "You say you destroyed my father?"

Rock blinked, "What no I…"

Dan began to cry manly tears, "And all this time I thought Sagat was the one! Don't worry father, I'll avenge you! OYAJI!"

Rock growled in annoyance as Dan proceeded to tear into him, wondering how exactly he kept getting involved with all these idiots.

Meanwhile, Q was having problems of his own.

It was a credit to Optimus Prime's driving ability that he hadn't plastered anyone yet, and a credit to Q's agility that he had not BEEN plastered yet. As the cyborg ran about the ring the Autobot leader swerved and turned in truck mode, narrowly avoiding the other fighters as he swerved around them. After narrowly hitting Chipp Zanuff, Sakura, and Earthquake, Prime decided that moving around in truck mode was too difficult in the enclosed environment and changed back to robot form.

Ironically, after changing back, the giant robot took all of three steps when he heard a squish under his giant foot. Looking down, he saw the remains of a small puppy.

"MY DOGGY!" BB Hood yelled in rage, tears streaming down her face as she pulled out two submachine guns, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Prime rubbed the back of his head as the young mercenaries bullets bounced off his well armored body, he did feel bad about stepping on the kid's dog, and he didn't want to hurt her, but he was in a competition and was expected to fight back.

Walking over to Hood, Prime picked up the kicking and screaming Hood and gently dropped her in the dimensional barrier. Hood landed in the Robots node, where the unfortunate denizens quickly found out the meaning of misplaced aggression.

Back to the exciting Geese/Hulk/Venom fight, Geese snickered again as he beckoned Hulk to attack him. The angry gamma powered giant obliged and swung a mighty blow. Little did he realize that Geese was expecting it, and had his hand up.

The next thing Hulk knew, he was in midair. Below him was the dimensional barrier. As he dropped down towards it, Hulk smiled as he spread his hands out as far as he could.

"Nu-uh, I ain't going out like that, not THIS time."

And then he clapped his hands.

The resulting sonic boom temporarily deafened the people in the first three rows, and flattened over a mile of the toxic jungle in the Naussica node (which Hulk was scheduled to land in), and caused a herd of Ohmu to go totally berserk. The boom also sent Hulk flying straight up into air, until he vanished from sight.

Geese shook his head as he recovered from the boom, "Well, wasn't expecting THAT," The crime boss muttered as he shook himself off, "At any rate, we wont be seeing him for a while."

"All the better," Venom said as he grabbed Geese on a web-line, "guess that means we get you all to ourselves!"

"Hey! What about me?"

Venom and Geese turned over to see Rai standing there, cracking his knuckles.

Venom and Geese looked at each other, "What about you?"

"We'll I'm going to eliminate you both!" Rai said proudly, "With my incredible power! Behold!"

Rai punched one fist down into the ground, producing… nothing.

"Uh…" Rai said in a confused manner, "Hang on, and let me try again."

Rai punched down again. And again nothing happened.

"Darn it, what the heck's going on?" Rai said aloud, and then he noticed the problem.

"Hey! Where's my Waku-Waku gem?"

Geese and Venom could see where it was; Anubis had it.

Unlike the other war gods, Anubis held no illusions about his abilities as a fighter or his popularity among the fans. He was a loser through and through, but he DID have a few things going for him; Immortality, healing factor, and some rather impressive thieving skills.

Even though he was half in the bag, Anubis knew a valuable treasure when he saw one. Sneaking up (or as close to sneaking as a guy who's had ten beers can come) to Rai, Anubis picked the glowing yellow orb out of Rai's gauntlet. The drunken war god then proceeded to look it over, attempting to appraise it so he could sell it off for booze money when he got back from elimination.

"Hey," Rai, who had finally noticed Anubis, yelled, "That's mine! Give it back!"

Anubis glared at Rai, "Make me. hic"

Rai charged at Anubis, and the two engaged in what could only be described as the biggest sissy fight in the history of mankind; slaps were exchanged, hair was pulled, wet willies were administered.

Venom and Geese, who had been watching this spectacle, finally became fed up with this embarrassing display and decided to end it. The pair both grabbed a fighter (Venom to Anubis, Geese to Rai) and gave them the old heave ho out of the ring. The duo landed in the xiaolin showdown node, where they both took turns beating up Jack Spicer.

Speaking of magical gems…

**Eliminated seating**

Gaara smiled as he held the next gem up. The Waku-Waku fighters had proved little challenge to the hidden sand genin; Maruru lay embedded in the concrete wall on the far side of the eliminated seating area, courtesy of Temari. Dandy J lay on the ground choking after inhaling some poisonous gas from Kankuro's puppet Karasu. And as for Slash, well…

"So, you have what you need right? No need to kill me right?" Slash asked nervously as he squirmed inside Gaara's patented desert coffin, "I mean I'm really not worth killing am I?"

Gaara scowled at the demon slayer, once he would have killed him without a second thought, but he had been trying to get away from that sort of thing as of late. "Alright, I'll let you live."

Gaara released the sand around Slash, dumping him to the ground. The demon slayer quickly rose and straightened up his hair.

"Thank you… that was most generous of you," Slash smirked as he pulled his blade from inside his cloak and charged at the sand ninja, "and also FOOLISH!"

Gaara could have stopped Slash easily, but he didn't have too; just then, Elena leapt forward and kicked Slash in the head, sending him sprawling and knocking him out. Gaara and his compatriots stared at the Kenyan princess as she tapped her foot on the ground.

"How rude, I saw the whole thing." Elena said to no-one in particular, "I can't stand people who cheat in fights; I mean what's the point?"

Gaara blinked, "It's you… what are you…"

Elena grabbed Gaara's hands and smiled, "I've been looking for you silly! I finally find your room upstairs, and they told me you came down here. I wanted to warn you about these bad guys who were going to jump you and…." Elena looked around, "… I guess you got it handled."

Gaara nodded, "I need to get these magic gems, and my friend was turned into a chicken and…"

Elena stared at Gaara, who shrugged. "It's…. a long story."

Elena smiled, "Want to talk about it over some coffee? I found a place down the street a piece the other day and…"

Kankuro and Temari blinked in astonishment at what they saw next; Gaara started _blushing. _

"Uh… brother," Kankuro said, stepping close to Gaara, "you… feeling alright?"

Gaara glared at Kankuro, causing him to jump back, "I'm going out for a minute, wait here for the other three fighters with gems. You know what to do when they get here, and when Hinata gets here make sure to bring her up to speed."

Elena added in, "You want us to bring you something, Maybe some decaf for the guy in black," Elena pointed at Kankuro, "He seems a bit… jumpy."

Kankuro and Temari looked at each other, and then at Elena, "Nope, we're good."

As Elena and Gaara left the bewildered Temari and Kankuro, Juni and Juli, who had been sitting there also waiting for Hinata, looked at each other. Juni lifted her wrist communicator to her mouth. "Master Bison, we have a small problem".

**The ring**

Chipp Zanuff and Hinata Hyuuga bounced around the ring, exchanging blows at high speed. The two ninja moved so rapidly that their movements were all but imperceptible to the audience and even the other fighters.

Actually, it would more accurate to say they were imperceptible to _most_ of the fighters. Earthquake, being a ninja as well, could perceive Hinata's and Chipp's movements just fine. Twirling his chain slowly, the giant Texan waited for the perfect moment to strike.

He got his moment when Hinata landed down on the mat for a split second. Sensing opportunity, Earthquake threw the ball end of his chain at the young genin, hoping to tangle her up.

Hinata saw it coming a mile away. Grabbing the chain, she leapt up into the air and tangled it up with Chipp Zanuff. Earthquake, not really caring WHO he was attacking, pulled down hard on the chain and sent Chipp sprawling to the ground. Once there, he was greeted by a healthy dose of stomps and fire breath.

As Earthquake planned to land the finishing blow to Chipp, Hinata intervened, leaping in between the pair and sending Chipp Zanuff flying from the ring. The young ninja landed in the Batman Begins node, where a healthy dose of Scarecrows fear toxin would keep Chipp VERY busy for the next 15 minutes.

Earthquake glared down at the tiny female ninja with anger, "That was MY elimination shrimp!" the giant bellowed.

Hinata replied by striking Earthquake rapidly in the stomach, the fat ninja laughed and patted his belly.

"Nice try girlie, but my body's impervious to that 'gentle fist' stuff."

Hinata growled in frustration. He could tell with her evil eye that Earthquake was right; he had so much flab that he was all but impervious to gentle fist, his organs shielded by all the extra insulation. So Hinata did the only thing she could thing of:

"Look over there!" Hinata pointed. Earthquake turned to look in the direction Hinata indicated. When the giant turned back Hinata had vanished.

In the hidden leaf suite, Neji groaned and held his head.

As Earthquake gave chase to Hinata, Venom and Geese continued their battle. Venom swung the crime boss around on a web line, smashing him into the ground, the turnbuckles, and other fighters in that order. Getting dizzy, the crime boss reached out and grabbed hold of the turnbuckle. Using Venom's own momentum against him, the Crime boss gave Venom a swing, sending him across the arena. Geese brushed off his hands and made his way over to Rock, who was beating Dan stupid.

"Having fun?" Geese asked, looking over his son's shoulder. Rock ignored him and continued. Geese shrugged, grabbed his son, and slammed him into the mat.

"That'll teach you to mind your elders." Geese said in a tone of supreme arrogance which was promptly cut short with a sharp blow to the back of the head from a thrown shield.

"And that'll teach YOU not to sucker punch people half your size." Cap announced with disdain in his voice. Geese rubbed his head as he rose.

"You know, I should probably mention that I was European born. I've got no problem being deported." The crime lord muttered.

Cap didn't respond. He simply beckoned Geese forward with his fingers.

As Geese charged, Rock got his wits about him again and stood up. Looking around, he noticed his father was no longer nearby. Looking down with scorn he saw Dan Hibiki, only semi conscious thanks to the beating Rock had administered to him.

"You… It's YOUR fault. I lost him again because of YOU!" Rock bellowed as he picked up Dan and flung him from the ring in anger.

Dan came too in the dining cart of a fancy looking train. Unsure of where he was Dan rubbed his head in confusion.

Confusion turned to fear when he realized that everyone one the train was dressed in a flowing white cloak.

"This can't be good." The Sakiyo master muttered to himself as the ghostly passengers began to crowd around him. The doom train of Final Fantasy 6 was not very friendly to strangers to say the least.

**Backstage**

"Damn it Hibiki," Ken muttered as he furrowed his brow, "You were supposed to ELIMINATE Sakura so we could try and snap her out of killing intent."

"What did you expect?" Ryu said quietly, his arms folded in front of him, He knew not to put too much faith in Dan's ability to defeat Sakura, but even he expected more from him than to be eliminated by the illegitimate son of a gangster from another dimension.

"So who is next in the ring? Ken asked.

Ryu didn't speak, but rather shrugged towards Sean, who was eating a burrito he had bought from the food court with an oblivious look on his face.

Ken put his hand over his eyes. He did NOT pick a good day to quit drinking.

**Unknown**

Naraku's eyes were glued shut. He had closed them in preparation of the unmerciful beating he was about to receive from Inuyasha and his friends.

But strangely enough, the beating did not come. For a whole five minutes he felt and heard nothing.

"You know," a husky female's voice spoke, "You can open your eyes anytime now."

Reluctantly, Naraku did as the voice instructed and opened his eyes. One glance told Naraku he was no longer in the presence of Inuyasha and his comrades. In fact, as near as Naraku could figure he was no longer in the same dimension, let alone backstage.

All around him was a vast red nothingness, in the distance Naraku could vaguely spot lightning. Naraku rose to the feet and stomped down a few times. Despite the apparent lack of solid ground he did not fall; he simply stood atop some invisible force.

That's when Naraku became aware of the woman standing just in front of him. She had short black hair, and was dressed in a scantily red spandex outfit, complete with a red witch's hat. Over her shoulder she wore a strange object that vaguely reminded Naraku of an instrument of some variety. The woman smirked at Naraku and licked her red lips in anticipation, laying somewhere between lust and a predatory hunger.

Naraku scowled at the interloper. Like most manipulators, Naraku did not enjoy being in situations where he didn't have completed and total control. "Who are you? Identify yourself at once!"

The woman smiled, stood her instrument up on the ground and leaned towards Naraku, showing the half demon more than a generous amount of cleavage.

"My name is I-no," the woman said softly, "and I'm your new best friend."

Naraku stared for a second, and then smiled. He had a feeling he was going to like this strange woman.

**The ring**

Kevin Mask lifted up Bass Armstrong (not a small feat considering the size difference between the two) and power bombed him. Vance McMadd just stood nearby, a smug look on his face.

Bass rose with an angry look on his face and gave Kevin the "Up yours" hand sign, and then he ran towards the Chojin, hoping to take his head off with a running elbow. Kevin easily dodged, grabbed Bass from the behind, and then proceeded to choke Bass from behind, bringing him to his knees.

At this point Vance had seen enough. He stepped forward. "Alright Kevin, move over. I'm eliminating this guy."

Kevin glared at Vance; he was wondering when Vance would pull some crap like this. "What? No way, I did all the damage to this guy, so I'm eliminating him!"

Vance glared at Kevin, "You BETTER let me eliminate him, or I'll fire you AND your old man!" the owner of the UWF smiled wickedly, "What do you say about THAT?"

Kevin was about to respond to this threat by Grabbing Vance and putting him into a Big Ben bash when he suddenly noticed that the half of the ring where he, Vance and Bass were fighting was deserted. Looking around, he saw most of the other fighters had crowded over to the other side of the ring, many of them had their gazes set into the sky, looks of amazement and fear across their faces.

Kevin looked up, and smirked.

"You know something Vance? You're right."

"I am?" The corrupt fight promoter corrected himself, "err um of course I'm right! I'm the boss! I'm ALWAYS right. Now stand back and let me show you how we did it back in the day. Pay attention! You MIGHT learn something."

Kevin smiled, as he stepped back from Vance as he huffed to pick up Bass Armstrong to lob him over the ropes. "Oh I wouldn't miss THIS for the world."

As Vance struggled to get Bass over the ropes, he noticed a large and steadily growing shadow had enveloped him and the semi conscious Armstrong. Looking up he saw the silhouette of a large muscular man clutching a giant asteroid in his hands.

"Oh poop." Vance McMadd said aloud.

The Hulk slammed into the two wrestlers with sufficient force to send the fighters flying about the arena. Vance McMadd had been disintegrated upon impact, while Bass had been mercifully tossed clear out of the ring. (He landed in aliens vs. predator node, where he would later awaken to discover an unpleasant taste in his mouth and an unsettling rumbling in his stomach). The Hulk arose in the clearing smoke and smiled.

"Who's next?" The gamma giant smirked.

Kevin Mask prepared to step forward, but he was promptly grabbed by Geese from behind and tossed out of the ring. (He landed in the scary godmother node, where he ended up pile driving Harry the Werewolf through a coffee table, much to everyone's amusement.)

"That would be me." The crime boss chuckled. He was interrupted by Rock Howard, who kicked him in the head from behind. The Hulk smiled and gave Rock a thumbs up. Rock returned the gesture, and proceeded to stomp on his father as Potemkin, Optimus Prime, and Earthquake stepped forward.

**IGP Bathroom**

Heidern slashed at Captain N's head, meaning to decapitate the young super hero. Confidently Kevin pressed a button on his controller and vanished, reappearing right behind Heidern. Kevin leveled his light gun on Heidern, who quickly rolled out of the way of the blasts.

This pretty much set the flavor of the fight up to this point; Kevin's ability to stop time gave him an edge over Heidern, but the battle hardened mercenary had the cards of skill and agility over the young and comparatively inexperienced Captain N. As a result, neither fighter was able to land a decisive blow.

It was at that point that Clark Steel walked into the bathroom. The Ikari warrior had grown tired of waiting for his commander and had come looking for him. Clark looked at the pair duke it out for about five more minutes then decided he had seen enough.

"Commander!"

Heidern stopped long enough to get clipped by one of Captain N's energy blasts; he responded with a kick to the boy's solar plexus which sent him sprawling.

"Yes Clark?" Heidern inquired sternly, barely acknowledging his singed leg.

"Uh… I was wondering what was taking you." Clark Responded.

"Kid wouldn't give up the controller," Heidern glared at Kevin as he shakily rose to his feet, gun in hand, "Had to get rough."

Clark shook his head, "Did you tell him we just wanted to borrow it?"

Kevin and Heidern exchanged glances. "Uh, no I did not." Heidern admitted.

Clark rolled his eyes from behind his shades, "Did you tell him we needed them to help a friend?"

Heidern sighed, "No I did not."

Kevin chose this point to enter the conversation, "Wait, how are you going to use my controller to help a friend of yours…" Kevin took a closer look at Clark, who turned away, shielding his face, "Wait… you're..."

Heidern clasped his hand over Kevin's mouth. "Alright, you know HOW we plan to use the controller. I regret I cannot tell you WHY I need it, or you'd be put in serious danger from our enemies. Just know that it WILL be returned, and that the life of a friend hangs in the balance. So what do you say Captain N?"

Heidern removed his hand from Kevin's face. The hero looked at the pair for a minute, and then reluctantly removed the controller from his belt.

"One thing before I hand this to you. If you guys get caught, I'll deny everything. I'll say that you mugged me in the bathroom."

Heidern and Clark looked at each other and smiled. "Kid, we wouldn't have it any other way."

**The ring**

For several sections, the power stones had been all but forgotten by the fighters in the ring. The multicolored gems lay near the edge of the ring, ready to be picked up by any given fighter.

Most of the fighters hadn't bothered to look down to search for them; After all, looking down in this tournament was tantamount to suicide. Bomberman, being all of a foot in height, had no such restriction. Neither did Hinata Hyuuga, who could look in every direction at once due to her Byakhyugan.

The two fighters looked at one another, and then looked at the stones.

Then the race was on.

For an instant it seemed like Hinata would win the race to get the stones. Unfortunately for her, she was so focused on the stones that she was not paying attention to the other fighters in the ring.

It is because of this reason that the genin had been blindsided by a battered Optimus Prime, who had been tossed her way by the Hulk as he effortlessly battered the numerous fighters coming his way. By the time Hinata had gotten out from beneath the prone robot it was already too late.

Hinata was greeted by a 15 foot tall giant Bomberman. The empowered dream fighter looked down at Hinata, large bombs forming in his fingerless hands. Hinata gritted her teeth and prepared for the worst.

The young Hyuuga could not win the fight, she could only endure. For the next thirty seconds the entire ring was rocked with massive explosions which sent nearly every fighter in the ring flying. Hinata was at ground zero, attempting to use her chakra to form a barrier between herself and the explosions and not having much luck at it.

Thirty seconds later the stones had expended their powers and were sent flying from the ring, landing scattered, again, across the ring. Hinata had collapsed in a battered heap before the now tiny Bomberman. The tiny robot was quite pleased with himself, despite the jeers he was now receiving from the crowd. Pulling out another bomb, he prepared to blast Hinata into non-existence, when he heard a massive clang behind him. Turning around Bomberman saw a rightly ticked off Optimus Prime looming over him. The tiny robot gulped.

Without so much as a word Prime pulled back and kicked Bomberman with all his strength, sending the robot flying from the ring. Bomberman landed in the Peanuts node, where Charlie Brown mistook his bomb for a football. The predictable occurred.

"Blockhead," Prime muttered to himself. The Autobot then looked down at Hinata, who was rising to her feet. The genin struck several spots on her own body, much to Prime's confusion.

"I'm deadening the pain nerves in my body," Hinata explained, "Making it so I can't feel pain. That way I can keep fighting."

Prime smiled, this kid had some real guts. "Good luck kid, I got a score to settle with the big green guy."

Hinata didn't respond, she simply nodded to the giant robot as he went on to fight her own opponents.

**IGP Hotel**

In the Hidden Leaf suite Neji smiled. He knew Hinata had improved since the Chuunin exams, but he had no idea she had improved this much.

"We're back!" Heidern announced as he entered with Clark Steel, controller in hand. Clark looked at Neji, "Shouldn't you be getting to the green room? You're fighting next round aren't you?"

Neji nodded as he stood, "Yeah, I just wanted to watch Hinata some more first. I'll go now."

As Neji walked by, Heidern leaned over to the young genin, "Tell Ralph we got the 'you know what' okay?"

Neji smiled as he left the room.

A few floors up, there was a knock at the door.

The door belonged to Mike Haggar, and when he opened it he was greeted by the sight of about half a dozen demons. Most people would be in differing grades of terror and awe upon such a sight, but Mike Haggar was not most people.

"Can I help you….Gentlemen?" The mayor of Metro City said gruffly.

The demons ignored Haggar for the moment. Blackheart leaned over to Kikyo, "Is it in there?"

Kikyo nodded, "I'm sure of it."

Kusaregedo added in, "I… smell ninja…."

Blackheart turned his attention to Haggar. "We're coming in, step aside."

"No." Haggar said matter of factly.

Blackheart glared at Haggar, "What did you say?"

"I said _no._" Haggar repeated, "You deaf as well as ugly, or just stupid?"

Blackheart clenched his fists, electricity sparking from them. "Do you have the SLIGHTEST idea of who you are addressing?"

Haggar considered the question. "Well, judging by your attire you're either a group of lost LARPer's or a band of demons," Haggar smiled, "but either way, you are NOT coming in."

Shuma Gorath slithered to the front of the mob, "Foolish mortal, powers you cannot even PRONOUNCE are at our beck and call, and you presume to threaten US?"

Haggar smiled, "I wasn't threatening anyone squiddily diddly, I was saying you can't come in."

Without warning Haggar's fist shot out, sending Shuma Gorath sprawling to the floor, much to the surprise of the demons.

"Now THAT," Haggar smiled, "that was a threat."

Blackheart shook with rage, and then became eerily calm. "Foolish mortal, you don't really mean to fight all of us do you? Even the Bushin master Guy could not defeat our combined forces. So what chance do you stand?"

At this point Haggar opened the door completely, revealing Jill Valentine and Cody standing next to him. Jill had a gun traced on Blackheart, while Cody casually flipped a small knife through his fingers.

"So…" Cody said non chalantly, "You freaks are the ones who beat up my boy guy." Cody looked at Kusaregedo and sneered, "And I'm guessing the big stupid one was the one who gave him the nasty shoulder wound."

Kusaregedo snarled angrily and lurched forward, only to be stopped by Blackheart. "I don't think you appreciate your situation, I've been more than reasonable, now please step aside."

Haggar smiled, "no, its YOU who doesn't appreciate the situation. You see, each of us is as strong as Guy."

Blackheart raised an eyebrow. "You're bluffing."

Haggar smiled. "Try me."

The demons conversed among themselves for several minutes, and then Blackheart spoke again.

"Alright, we'll leave you alone for now. But do not think this is over. Tell the Bushin master we can track the location of the jewel no matter where it is. There is nowhere he can hide from us, and you three cannot protect him indefinitely."

Haggar closed the door as the demons walked away, scooping up the still prone Shuma Gorath as they did, then put his hands on his knees and let out a gasp of relief. Jill and Cody showed similar signs of relief.

"Picking a fight with demon lords," Haggar said at last, "I must be NUTS."

"I've been saying that for years…." Everyone turned to see Guy standing in the doorway of the bedroom, half slumped against the wall. Cody went to hug and prop up his friend.

"Guy! Are you okay?"

"Better than you apparently," Guy looked at Cody's garb, causing the prison tough to look away from his friend in shame.

"I am sorry," Guy said as Cody sat him down in an armchair, he was feeling better thanks to Jill's herbs, but was still far from full strength, "I brought this upon you."

"It's alright," Haggar said encouragingly, "But I would like to know what the devil this is all about."

Guy nodded, "I owe you that much…" the Bushin master fished a glowing purple gem from his pocket. "Let me start by telling you a story…"

In the hallway Blackheart strode with confidence, the other demons close by. "Was it wise to just leave them there?" Kikyo said at last, "We could have easily overpowered them. I think the big one was bluffing personally."

"Of course he was," Blackheart said casually, "But that doesn't matter, there are easier ways to get what we want."

Kikyo raised an eyebrow as the demons got onto the elevator, and Blackheart laughed. "Anyways, I'M fighting next section, as is a young lady who will be the key to everything. We'll get the gem yet, no need to worry about anything.

As the demons stepped off the elevator, they came face to face with Inuyasha and his group. Inuyasha stared aghast, "Kikyo? What are you doing with them?"

Before Kikyo could respond, Blackheart threw his arm around Kikyo and drew her close. "Jealous half-breed? I guess Kikyo just wanted somebody who was all demon."

Kikyo glared coldly at Blackheart, while Inuyasha grabbed the hilt of Tetsaiga. Inuyasha was already pissed at losing Naraku (And how he was lost was a mystery; one second he was there, the next he had vanished. There was no explanation.) And this was really setting him off.

"Inuyasha," Miroku calmly placed a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder, "Let's not do anything rash now…"

"Shut up Miroku," Inuyasha growled, slowly drawing his sword, "I won't let this stand."

"Consider the situation Inuyasha," Miroku explained, "Its obvious Kikyo is their hostage, any attack would clearly endanger her well being. We should wait for a more opportune moment to arise to do battle with the demons."

Inuyasha sighed and sheathed his sword. "You're right Miroku."

Blackheart laughed as he and the other demons walked past, "That's right. Good doggie! It's good you know how to sit and stay! Oh, and I know you're hunting the jewel, I suggest you forget doing that if you care for the safety of the girl." Blackheart laughed again as he walked away.

Inuyasha snarled impotently as the demons ambled off. As they walked away Shang Tsung looked back at Kagome, who had been strangely mute during the encounter, no doubt due to Inuyasha's obvious feelings for Kikyo. The evil wizard smiled as they walked off.

"Such spiritual power," Shang Tsung muttered to himself, "Yes, she will be PERFECT!"

**The Ring**

Even with the 3-on-1 brawl against the Hulk, Geese was eager to make it four-on-one. But his son was persistent in his assault. The crime lord continued to parry and dodge the attacks of the younger Howard with fluid ease, finally grabbing his arm.

"You're making this too easy, brat," Geese muttered, hurling Rock over his head for the umpteenth time this section. He made to advance to the Jade Giant, but Potemkin's Zeppian bulk crashing into him, Zero, and Q, courtesy of Hulk, and slammed the unaware trio to the ground.

"Get off, you oaf!"

"Hey, we're not enjoying this either, blondie."

The trio forced the Zeppian off, and Geese decided to make haste to other fights, while the android and reploid now occupied.

"Robots…I didn't think there were others like Robo-Ky." Potemkin muttered, scratching his small head as Q tilted his. He was also unaware that Zero had unloaded six rounds into his kneecap.

"Crap!"

"So, you want to fight?" Potemkin said, rearing back his fist. Q took the moment to rush under the incoming punch aimed for Zero, while the red Maverick Hunter opted the high road. Zero answered with a downward slash of the ol' Z-Saber to the Zeppian's frame, while Q launched a dashing punch of his own. Potemkin's response stepped back from the impact, but otherwise felt fine.

Now far away, Zappa and Makoto had been fighting tooth and nail (Literally, in Zappa's case), all throughout the Geese/Hulk/Venom brawl. In spite of Makoto's furious karate blows, the possessed Aussie did not notice the attacks. Instead, he struck back, first by summoning a sword, and cutting forcing Makoto to dodge frantically.

Zappa probably would have sliced the Japanese brunette into Swiss cheese, had not another ominous shadow began to darken the area.

"-POTEMKIN BUSTER!"

Makoto was damn lucky: She rolled the hell out of the way: Zappa was not so fortunate. The Aussie felt the full weight of Potemkin slam on top of him (Who had landed with Q in a Potemkin Buster). Makoto made to toss him over the ropes, but was interrupted by Sakura booting the crushed Aussie (Zappa landed in Resident Evil, where he was mistook for carrion. The zombies ignored him.)

"Hey! I was going to eliminate him!"

"Well, I guess you're just to slow, huh?" Schizo Sakura remarked, "Tough break for a tomboy."

"Well at least I don't show off my privates to the multiverse!"

Before you could say 'catfight', the lovely ladies were at it like lionesses.

As the fur began to fly, Potemkin and Q had continued their battle, which began to tilt in Potemkin's favor, swatting the machine man to the side with a well-placed chop. Reeling, Q barely dodged the incoming Mega Fist, and dashed under the Zeppian giant.

Potemkin turned his back, but he was promptly bashed on the head by a shield.

"Huh?" Potemkin turned to see Captain America.

First Mistake: Don't turn your back.

In quick movement, Q's gloved fist slammed into Potemkin's middle, making the giant double over. Captain America, seeing his opening, pulled back his shield, and charged in with the Final Justice. Potemkin didn't feel the combo from Captain America, but the crashing piledriver into the canvas, delivered on Potemkin's tiny head, knocked the giant unconscious. Seconds later, the ref Luffy ruled him unable to compete, and teleported to the infirmary.

Captain America was brought back to earth with a roundhouse from Q. He quickly blocked with his shield, and returned with a parried-dropkick. Q quickly reached out and grabbed the Avenger by the crown, smashing his head onto his knee. He was almost about to deliver the final blow, when he, and the crowd was reminded of Bao's presence.

Throughout the entire section, ever since slamming into Earthquake's gut, Bao had been trying his damndest to avoid most of the conflicts, running namely from a surfing Rikou at the moment.. However, even his luck ran out, as he rammed into Q, sending him into the turnbuckle.

Q, hardly feeling the collision, quickly grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck; Bao tried to vainly run from the grasp of the cyborg, leading to a rather comedic result.

The crowd roared in cheers as Q turned the boy around, slammed his fist into the psycho soldier's gut, then spiked him out of the ring like a volleyball. (Bao landed in the Sonic Spinball node, where he drowned in the water.)

Rikou, incensed that the cyborg intervined in him eliminating the ping-pong kid, forgot a major rule in battle royals, and was too busy to notice: NEVER turn your back in a battle royal.

"I wonder what Namor would think of you."

The merman looked around, and saw Captain America. While the Avenger could have taken advantage of Rikou, he refrained, allowing Rikou to attack. The green Darkstalker leaped in with a Trickfish, but that proved to be his own undoing, as Cap, grimacing, quickly blocked, parried, and pegged him with a hard Stars 'n Stripes.

Rikou found himself in peaceable waters, surrounded by craggy rocks; This didn't bother him at all, as he took the time to relax.

He should have paid attention to the giant colossus known as Emerald Weapon quietly nearing him.

Meanwhile, Captain America again confronted the enigmatic Q in the ring.

"I don't think hurting children will ear any brownie points with me, mister."

Q only breathed heavily, and the fight was on.

Back to the Hulk-brawl in the middle of the ring, Hulk continued to fight at a handicap, with the flabby ninja and the Autobot Captain striking at him on both sides. While he was still stronger than either of them combined, he was always getting struck from behind by Earthquake.

His saving grace came when Prime saw the disadvantage, and played to it.

"Hey, big guy!"

Earthquake looked up.

"Lights out!"

Optimus Prime, the tallest of the three, leveled the stunned Earthquake with a hellluva haymaker, catapulting the fat ninja over to the other side of the ring. As he landed, he began to roll like a ball, gaining speed as he neared the group of Sakura, Makoto, Venom, Kula Diamond, Zero, Sango, Hinata, & Twelve.

Zero took the time to say what was on the minds of the hapless fighters: "Aw, Shoot"

Like a peach-colored bowling ball to the pins (Choji, in the hidden leaf suite, screamed copyright infringement), Earthquake's rolling blubber launched all the aforementioned fighters sky-high. Sakura was fortunate enough to recover in mid-air, Dragon-Punching nearby Kula Diamond out of the ring. Twelve followed suit, being kicked into the vortex by Hinata: The rest landed on Earthquake.

(Kula and Twelve landed in Mario Kart: Double Dash, where they ended up carjacking Wario's convertible and attacking the other hapless racers for 15 minutes.)

Optimus, back on the other side the ring, nodded at the removal of the flabby ninja. He looked behind him to see the Hulk back to his feet.

"Sorry, but we didn't finish from our last fight." Prime remarked.

"Let's Rock." Hulk said, diving into the larger Autobot.

**IGP Bar**

It was often a cold day in hell or a serious emergency when M. Bison went to grunt work, but with Vega in the infirmary, he had more than his hands full.

The ninjas were proving to be greater nuisances to the Shadoloo boss. He could not fantom Vega being beaten by a pre-teen ninja with a Moe Howard haircut, but Vega getting him face driven into concrete proved that not all plans come to fruition (A lesson Bison had failed to learn many, many times over). To worsen the problem, the dolls had reported that the 'friends' of the Hyuuga girl had arrived awaiting her elimination. So, to squash these problems, and to make sure they did not go unhindered, the dictator sought out a hired gun to deal with the mess.

A hired gun named Badguy.

Bison found the guilty gear at the place he expected him: The bar. Normally, M. Bison wouldn't have cared for personally seeking cronies, but Vega's injury and Balrog idiocy wouldn't have helped the Shadowloo boss at all.

Bison cleared his throat. Sol, in his shabby clothes and "Rock You" head band, failed to notice Bison, instead downing his beer.

"Mr. Badguy, I presume?"

Sol took a single I-don't-give-a-crap glance at the dictator, and then turned back to his Jack Daniels. Bison realized that merely talking to the man would not work: Sol was in a league of his own (though the megalomaniac Bison still believed that _he _was superior), and needed some semblance of respect.

So, in a rather dangerous move, the dictator placed a meaty hand on Sol Badguy's shoulder. Sol responded by slamming his bottle of beer down and muttering, "Do you want to die?"

"Now that I have your attention, bounty hunter, you might want to listen to me."

"And if I say no?"

"Then I'll incinerate your existence before you enter the ring."

Sol wasn't intimidated. "I'll be the one doing the burning here, dumb ass. Now either get to business or buzz off."

Bison grinned like the mad man he was. "I have a job of you, Badguy. I need you to eliminate and capture this girl," He handed a photograph, which Sol lazily took.

"She looks like a damn albino."

"Of course. But that doesn't matter. Your job is to eliminate her when you enter the Grand Prix. Do so, and I shall reward you handsomely."

To this, Bison held out another piece of paper, this time a prepared check. Sol took it and looked, his eyebrow raised as he say the figure. Even if they were from different nodes, this STILL was a plenty of money.

"So, what is your answer, Badguy? Do you accept, or shall I kill you right now?"

Sol pocketed the information. "I'll think about it."

Bison found it acceptable, for now. Soon, the ninja would be yet another of his puppets.

Section 6 Results:

Hulk: 9, 2 eliminations (McMadd, Bass)

Optimus Prime: 4, 2 eliminations (BB Hood, Bomberman)

Geese Howard: 3.6, 2 eliminations (Rai, Kevin Mask)

Captain America: 2.75, 2 eliminations (Potemkin, Rikou

Rock Howard: 2.6, 2 eliminations (Raiden, Dan)

Sakura: 2.5, 2 eliminations (Zappa, Kula)

Hinata Hyuuga: 2.25, 2 eliminations (Chipp, Twelve)

Q: 2.25, 1 elimination (Bao,)

Venom: 1.5, 1 elimination (Anubis),

Sango: 1.3, 1 elimination (Demitri, )

Makoto: 1.25, no eliminations

Zero: 1.25, no eliminations

Earthquake: 1.25, no eliminations,

Line of elimination 

BB Hood: 1, eliminated

Kula Diamond: 1, eliminated

Chipp Zanuff: 1, eliminated

Dan Hibiki: 1, eliminated

Demitri Maximov: .77, eliminated

Rikou: .67, eliminated

Zappa: .6, eliminated

Bass Armstrong: .5, eliminated

Anubis: .38, eliminated

Bomberman: .3, eliminated

Kevin Mask: .29, eliminated

Raiden: .28, eliminated

Potemkin: .14, eliminated

Rai: .11, eliminated

Twelve: 0, snapped

Bao: 0, crackled,

Vance McMadd: 0, and popped.

Bonus fights:

Elimination evisceration: Gaara of the desert, Temari and Kankuro (8) (N: NH2) demolish Dandy J, Mauru, and Slash (WW7) (5) with one abstain

Game time: Heidern (7) (KOF 2k1) ties Captain N the game master (7).


	17. Section 7

**IGP Booth**

Even though Crinos enjoyed watching the thirteen remaining combatants bashing each other's heads in, He knew it was that time again.

"Washu, lets bring in the next batch."

"Got it."

Before she hit the notice, A knock on the door stopped the red-headed scientist, and the door opened to reveal a gnomish, blonde boy and a man with wolfish hair.

"Ah, Ed. You took long enough," Crinos remarked, before turning to the man. "And you are...?"

The man extended his hand, "Chance O'Neal, gov'nor. Pleasure to meet you, sir: I've heard plenty of your recent work."

"That's well and good, but why the sons of a monkey are you here?"

"Well, chap, I saw that you had a post open, and so I decided to take it, since no one else has."

"And that is?"

"Color Commentator." O'Neal said simply, sitting in his seat, "You need some trace of aid. Do not consider me a problem: I shall be your…navigator, so to speak."

"Greeeeeat. This wasn't in the contract, and I freakin' _wrote _the contract!"

"Come on, chap…Oh, there will be time for the contract business later. Don't you think we should move along? I'll bring up my salary when this is over."

"You want to get paid!" Crinos said, spilling his coffee. O'Neal failed to notice.

As the pair argued in the booth, the ring continued its spastic melee, as the buzzer sounded, bringing forth the next combatant….

**The Infinity Grand Prix**

**Section Seven**

**The Ring**

**Neji Hyuuga (Naruto)**

Like Geese before him, the haughty Neji received a divided response from the crowd: Some cheered out of respect for his prodigious skills, but others remembered bitterly his snotty attitude towards people in general, and so granted him a stiff round of jeers. Having no real concern for either his popularity or the crowd, Neji decided not to waste a second on his way to the ring. He sprinted towards the ring and, with a better sense of companionship to Hinata than he previously had, defended the heir of the Hyuuga clan.

That was his intention, until someone in the elimination seating caught his attention. Or, you could say, his foot.

In spite of having the All-seeing evil eye, Neji's attention was so focused on Hinata in the ring he failed to notice Davis stick out his foot.

Neji tripped over the foot at the sudden action, landing uncharacteristically on his face. Back in the Eliminated seating, Davis Miyamota laughed with Bomberman chuckling beside. In the hidden leaf suite, Tenten was swearing bloody murder.

Neji stood up, dusted himself off, and marched to the ring with his head held high, though he couldn't hide the red, embarrassed blush from his cheeks. Hinata would still need his help from the bouncing assault of the obese Earthquake.

Meanwhile, not too far off, Zero clashed his saber with Dark Sakura (who had broken off from Makoto), whose speed had surprised him more than he cared to admit. Her power level constantly fluctuated, and every time he saw an opening, Sakura reverted to her alternate form, surprising him with a _Shoryuken_ or a _Hurricane Kick_. His saber would have cut her up in a hurry, but he of course had to hit his foe…

His surprise was total when Sakura fell flat on her face.

"What the scrap?"

He looked to the entryway and saw that the next entrant was responsible….

**Roll (MvC2)**

"Hey, Zero!" Roll responded, like any normal bubbly blond. Zero only raised an eyebrow at her exuberance.

Zero knew who Roll was, having met with Dr. Light's projection before (He had NEVER met the good doctor in the flesh.), but Roll's energy, which was fluctuating dramatically, somewhat unnerved him (Not anymore than most of the other competitors). "Yes?"

"How are you doing?" Roll asked, trying to hide her own innate blond-ness.

Zero rolled his eyes. "Never better."

"Do you want to team up?" Roll asked.

"…."

His reply was cut sharply when Roll suddenly blasted Dark Sakura with a buffed _Roll Buster,_ who had gotten up during this whole affair. Zero's eyes got wide as he saw the power behind the blast.

"Did Light beef you up?"

"No. Must be good luck." Roll responded, clutching at a makeshift pendant around her neck. Zero noticed it for the first time then, a jagged piece of unknown metal to his sensors, basking in a glossy, red-violet light.

Zero chose to ignore the pendant for now. The schoolgirl Sakura had regained her footing, which prompted the two robots to double-team her. Considering her killing intent, it was about even.

Of course, the S-Class Maverick Hunter failed to pick up the erratic change in Roll's normally docile personality, as she blasted away at Sakura.

**Politank Z (Waku Waku 7)**

Now, as stated before, many as a sort an unusual fighter had already stepped through the ropes. But even with this in mind, most of the fans had to raise an eyebrow at the black-armored participant stepping through.

Politank Z had no trace of a head, at first, until it dawned on even the dumbest spectator that Politank Z was (DUH!) a tank, operated by a mechanic.

But the fans were surprised when a dog's head popped out from the top.

"Boy! Didn't I tell you to stay in the tank at all times! Why do you think I labored at bootcamp for so long?" The real operator of Politank Z shouted, making the pooch cringe.

After the awkward moment of confusion, the heavily-armored tank managed to jump into the ring, trying to size up the competition. The tank-man noticed the large figures of the Hulk and Optimus grappling with one another, and so took it upon himself to bombard them.

Hulk felt a warming sensation on his back, briefly, as he pounded into Optimus Prime. Shrugging, the Hulk continued to bash at his foe.

"So maybe that didn't work…" Politank Z muttered, as it aimed again, the pooch barking as it went on.

**IGP Basement**

"So, she'll be entering soon…" Blackheart said, "I must prepare for my entrance. I can put an end to this problem."

"Aye," Kano said, "Says right here she'll be entering."-The Black Dragon member jabbed his index finger at the paper foretelling the order of entry- "But what's the point?"

"I have my reasons." Blackheart remarked. Even though the son of Mephisto and Shang Tsung were allies, it was common sense not to fully trust either a devil, even with such notoriety as one as Blackheart, or a sorcerer infamous for his shape-shifting and backstabbing. "Let us just say…that she's a key to a lock."

"Aye. Wha'ever."

Blackheart refused to enter to the will of anyone, even the bigwigs of the IGP, and had merely decided to teleport to the ring when the time was right. He had hoped that the halfbreed would be in the ring, but he could amuse himself with the demon hunter and the sister of the Bushin, he reasoned.

Blackheart was also affronted at the absence of his fellow demons. Only Jedah, having finally recovered from his liquidation several sections back, and Kurasegedo, who was an idiot by his own birthright, remained with him before his sending off. Gorath had disappeared; so had Red Areemer. Shang Tsung had vanished yet again, leaving his proxies Kano and Reptile with the son of Mephitso. Asmodeus also left his minions with azure archdevil, namely Taria and Al'Rashid.

To say he was bored was simplicity in itself.

"….What folly…"

He guessed he would only have himself to rely on in the main event.

Several floors above, another demonic aura was pulsing warily. But this aura hailed not from a demon, but from a demonic shard of the Soul Edge blade, unknowingly teleported in Ranma Saotome's back pocket.

As his elimination from the Grand Prix might suggest, Ranma wasn't (to borrow an phrase) the sharpest knife in the drawer, nor the brightest crayon in the box. So it would not be a surprise to the keen observer that Ranma failed to notice personal…changes to himself.

His ki (or chakra, or energy, or what may you call it) was fluxing, only slightly, so he himself couldn't notice, but it was noticeable to the alert observer. Ranma himself was still fuming at the ineptitude of his panda bear father, and his mood did not help matters with his own embarrassing elimination.

Ranma had been unwilling to accompany Morrigan, Kenshin, and the rest for more reasons than he cared to admit, but what he failed to comprehend was the power within the shard.

Its evil power was leaking, bleeding into his psyche and body, and while, being the fool he was, failed to notice it, anyone could notice the side effects, the slight changes in his personality. His disdain for his dad could be passed off, but his attitude was becoming downright malicious.

As such was the case when Chipp Zanuff, returning from his elimination with fellow loser Kevin Mask, accidently bumped into the cursed Ranma.

"Sorry, fella." Chipp responded in kind; he was still groggy from his escape with the Scarecrow serum.

"Sorry?" Ranma remarked, who, for one reason or another, felt his anger rise for no reason other than the trifling action.

Chipp, he himself having a reputation for being snarky, only replied rather crassly, "Yeah, I'm sorry…Sorry I didn't bring some water to shut your trap! Sheesh!"

Apparently Ranma wasn't the only one incensed at his personal elimination. Ranma might have backed down, but the shard of the Soul Edge on his person only flared up at the idea for a fight. Chipp unheaded and in need of an ego boost only continued unheeded.

"I mean, what kind of luck is it for a guy to get into the ring, get soaked by the next entry, and be a transvestite? You'd make a killing for a shrink with that!"

The Chojin saw exactly where this was going, and did something out of character; He stepped into the middle of the fray. "Hey, now that's-"

"Oh?" Ranma returned dangerously, ignoring the larger wrestler, "That's rich coming from a ninja that was eliminated by a kid afraid of her own shadow!"

Now was Chipp's turn to be at a loss for words.

"I mean, I've heard about you on the website, about your little vengeance and everything, damn it, but getting eliminated by a kid? C'mon!"

Chipp showed a display wiser than his years, only shaking his head.

He didn't see, nor expected, the suckerpunch coming.

Picking himself back up, the white-haired ninja only looked on in a stupor. Kevin Mask, meanwhile, turned his full attention on the unruly Saotome.

"Hold it man! Are you trying to start something!" The scion of the Mask dynasty shouted incredulously, trying ironically to be peacemaker when usually its him that prefers to bust heads. "We all were eliminated; Can't you settle it at that?"

"Blow off."

"Yeah," Chipp Zanuff said, picking himself back up, "I'd appreciate it, Knight-in-shining-armor, if you'd please move. This guy just asked for an ass-kicking."

Ranma felt the daemon energy building in him, as Chipp moved towards him. The Saotome boy wanted to kick some ass, unknowingly goaded by the demon.

**Sunshine (GWFUM)**

The dome began to shake as the next entrant, the gargantuan Sunshine Supreme, one of the original members of the dMp, lumbered to the ring, his sand-yellow feet, each the size of car engines, smashing a caste into the runway.

The crowd decidedly saw Sunshine like Osama Bin Laden, a true, nefarious bad guy, and thus showed their dislike. The spectators (among them Checkmate) started lobbing jeers, watered down sodas, and buckets of caramel popcorn at the gold-rock goliath, who only laughed at the feeble response. His skillet sized hands merely brushed off the debris tossed at him, as the heat got him fired up for the fight. He would have jeered at the crowd, but his attempts to be heelish were stopped in a way, not too different from before…

Brian, Lucky, and Heavy D! all nodded in approval, and hit the record.

_You are my sunshine!_

_My only Sunshine,_

_You make me happy_

_When skies are grey._

_You'll never know dear_

_How much I love you_

_Please don't take my Sunshine away._

The crowd stopped lobbing foreign objects at Sunshine to crack up at his embarrassment. The dMp villain, on the other hand, shook furiously in rage, and shook his fist at the drunken Sports team.

With an impressive leap fuelled by his anger, Sunshine dived into the ring with a meteoric splash, crashing on top of the largest titans in the ring: Optimus Prime and the Hulk. However, even the dMp veteran realized his mistake, as the Jade Giant shrugged off the sand homoculus with little effort.

Hulk faced the villain with the a grin, as Hulk turned to pound the dMp villain to powder.

"Oh, great. First I have that meathead King Muscle to deal with, and now I have a green-dyed bozo with muscles for brains! Can't they do any better?" Sunshine complained, as he blocked the Hulk's attacks.

Hulk decided to respond the best way he could:

"HULK SMASH!"

Optimus meanwhile, opted not to interfere with the bashing and decided to wait for the next participant.

The autobot got a doozy.

**Sol Badguy (Guity Gear XX)**

_Buddy you're a boy, make a big noise_

_Playin' in the street _

_Gonna be a big man some day_

_Ya got blood on yo face_

_Ya big disgrace_

_Kickin' your can all over the place_

_We will we will rock you!_

_We will we will rock you!_

Sol, in spite of his lackaday attitude, loved the Queen entrance. It was the first thing that day that made him smile.

Even with the thunderous accompaniment in the background from the audience, Sol sauntered to the ring without much of a care, still feeling the Jack Daniels he had earlier strumming down his throat. He looked up at the sound booth, and was briefly tempted to join the drunken revelry, but decided against it.

The gear had a job.

As he hopped into the ring, the gear took notice of the two Hyuugas dodging and parrying the blade-and-chain (Sol forgot what it was called) of the fat ninja. He gave a smirk, shouldered his blade and made for the Hyuuga kids.

He was stopped by an enormous red-and-blue humanoid robot that could look Leopaldon in the eye.

"Hey. Move outta the way."

"Oh. Didn't see you there." The Autobot leader responded. "Why?"

"I'm a bounty hunter. I hunt bounties. Now get lost."

Prime wasn't intimidated or offended by the rudeness of Sol Badguy: He had heard much much worse from Megatron. However, as he turned to move away, deciding not to take the bati, Sol changed his mind; The bounty hunter didn't like to be brushed off.

"Hold on. The bounty can wait."

Before Optimus could turn around, Sol bit into his back with a powerful _Volcanic Viper, _toppling the Autobot to the ground.

"Well, then…" Optimus started, as Sol hammered into his exposed back, "…I'll give as much as I can get!"

Optimus heaved off the Corrupt Flame, righted himself, and was surprised as Sol was upon him again.

**Maki (CVSNK2)**

The sister to Guy bounced to the ring with a go-get-'em attitude, pumping her fists into the air to work up the crowd (Although just jumping up and down worked up the male half of the crowd as it is…), her tonfa braced in her clenched hands. Although she was somewhat saddened that Guy wasn't entering, she was more than ready to kick some serious ass.

She decided to give Sakura a little hand, kicking her was into the reploid team with frenzy.

**IGP Suite, (Haggar's room)**

"Seems your sister can take care of herself, eh?" Cody remarked wryly, as he watched Maki and Sakura team battle against the pair of robots.

The Bushin master Guy opted to say nothing, but merely allowed Jill Valentine to continue to work on his busted body. The Shikon Jewel remained firmly gripped in his hand, stubbornly clenched like an ape on a pair of pants.

"So, what are ya gonna do, now, Guy?" Cody asked. The convict clothes gave Cody an intimidating appearance, but his eyes were that of the former toughened kindness he once had. Guy shrugged as best as he currently could.

"Return this to its rightful node, perhaps." Guy said, twitching slightly as Jill's infamous herbs were applied to his arm. "Too many demons here to simply leave it around."

"Yeah, that's good and all, ninja boy, but-" Jill started, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door.

The effect was immediate: The S.T.A.R.S. officer quickly turned around with her pistol aimed at the door and Cody rose to his feet, his fists ready to do their work. But the door did not burst open in dramatic fashion, but only repeated its doleful rapping.

Guy broke the silence, "Come in."

The door slowly swung open, to reveal the armored form of Alphonse Elric behind it.

"Excuse me," Alphone spoke in his contradictory childish voice, "But is a man named Guy here?"

Cody pointed at the orange-clad Bushin master, who stood up.

"I am Guy."

"Okay. Could you please come with me?"

Confused at the whole mess of things and unsure what else might happened, Guy looked to his comrades, who only motioned for him to go on.

**IGP Arena**

**Ralf Jones (KOF '01)**

With the heavy bashing metal of "Born in the U.S.A." heralding his entry, Ralf took to his entrance the way he normally did everything: With guts, loudness, and booze.

It was thus no surprise to the crowd that Ralf Jones motioned for a beer from the vendors as he went along. It _was _surprising, though, to the onlookers when Ralf shouted out to one of the vendors: "Whaddya mean ya got no booze?"

"I told you, we sold out here when Cap America entered; Most of the beer went to those three jack-asses up there." The vendor pointed back up at the notorious sound booth, where at the moment Lucky and D! were pouring three Millers down Brian Battler's throat at once.

"All right, all right!" Ralf responded, frustrated. No beer was never a good thing. "But if you don't have any when I come back-"Ralf looked at the name tag on the vendor's chest-"Carl, I'm gonna punt your ass into next week."

Ralf marched off at this, leaving the vendor wondering if he would have to vie for health insurance.

Even without the booze, Ralf felt rejuvenated, as he hopped over the ropes: He guess that the "Thing" Hiedern and Clark retrieved had done the trick, but he needed a way to test it.

The American soldier saw Geese Howard and Rock Howard trading blows some ways off.

Ralf smiled like a retard imitating Superman.

**Hidden Leaf Suite**

"Holy _crap_!"

"I didn't think anyone could get tore up that bad and still stand."

"Clark, are you doing it right?"

"I'm can't give it anymore, Captain! I don't have the power!"

"Are you kidding? You look like a damn professional wrestler, Clark! And I'm your commanding officer, not a captain!"

The leaf genin that remained in the suite, along with Heidern, Clark, Kyo, & Chizune (Iori had stepped out for a smoke; Jiraiya took that opportunity to keep one eye on the Yamagami heir out of trouble, and the other on foxy bodies, but that's for another time), felt their eyesbrows rise as they watched the beating Ralf received at the hands of the Howard family. Even though Ralf was on good terms with Rock, at least, that apparently did not excuse him from the impolite interruption of their father-and-son 'discussion'.

Shikamaru looked up from his Shogi game with Shino briefly to see the carnage in the ring.

"He's deliberately doing that, isn't he?" The Nara child remarked.

"I don't know: If he got beer before the fight, yes." Heidern said simply. "You are doing it right?" The one-eyed officer asked Clark again.

"Yes." Clark muttered, his hands on the borrowed Nintendo controller of Captain N.

"Well, lets hope he doesn't get eliminated yet then."

Kakashi, who had been reading his third issue of _Make-Out Paradise_, looked up, his head scanning the room.

"Anyone seen Gaara and Lee yet?"

**The ring**

**Sean (ST3:TS)**

"Ah Yea!"

In spite of Sean's enthusiasm, the protégé of Ken failed to realize how little the fans respected him. Sean wasn't like most of the other fighters; To an extent, even the fans could respect Dan from his sheer goofiness, but Sean just _sucked_. Not like the War Gods, but in his own distinguished way.

That, of course, he was oblivious to, due to both Ken and Ryu hiding the truth from him. If anyone else told Sean that he sucked, he probably would've ignored it and proceeded to fight, which often lead to his own ass getting kicked.

A basketball was tucked under his arm. It didn't stay there for long upon his entry into the ring, as he tossed it at the Maverick Hunter Zero.

The ball did not cause him any damage, but shocked the reploid enough to nullify his common sense. Due to his shock, he left himself open to Maki's strike, which punted Zero over to Sean's feet.

"Tell me you just didn't throw a ball at me."

Sean nodded, too surprised at the reploid's morose tone to speak.

"All right. Batter up." Zero activated his Z-Saber and near-missed Sean with his swing.

"Forget protocol: I'll be a Maverick for today."

Sean quickly turned tail, bobbing and weaving among the other fighters to escape Zero's wild Z-saber-swinging rage.

**IGP Booth**

Crinos felt his eyebrows recede into his hair.

"Holy Crap."

"$20 bucks Zero eliminates him." O'Neal remarked.

"I'll take that bet."

Meanwhile, Ken and Ryu watched the episode with dour faces.

"God, and He's supposed to _replace_ me. How long-"

"Won't last the section." Ryu interrupted.

"Willing to make a bet?" Ken smiled wanly.

Away off from where Ken and Ryu watched, a second party of warriors observed the fight with critical approach. One was a diligently-tuxedoed humanoid with a brown beard and pipe within his mouth. The other was a brown-haired man with an enormous, floating sword.

"That young man's attitude is quite appalling." The pipe-puffer responded as he watched. "Fear is not a courteous woman, right, Mr. Baine?"

"You may call me Donovan, Darkstalker."

"Please…I prefer Nightwalker to that, halfbreed." The vampire, Slayer, answered. "But I shall forgive your informalities; the young Kiske also forgot his manners. Oh, there goes Frederick, again."

Slayer looked back boredly at the screen, observing Sol Badguy's rampant attacks on the larger Optimus Prime. "Reckless as always." He shook his head. "Well? What exactly did you want of me?"

"I sensed a taint of evil energy in the area, and it draws upon you, vampire. If you are that evil, then I must destroy you."

Slayer brushed off his suit as he listened to the explaination, "What is evil, Mr. Baine? I really do not want to start anything here in such a fine eatery, but…I'm always spry to test the new generation."

Donovan shook his head, "I said it was a taint. If It was you, for certain, we wouldn't be talking now." The vampire hunter pointed to Slayer's suit.

"I believe you are holding what I am interested in, in your pocket."

Slayer nonchalantly grabbed the item, the resonating, pulsating shard that was a piece of Soul Edge. Slayer chuckled.

"Oh? This is what you wanted?"

"HEY!"

Both vampire and vampire hunter turned their heads simultaneously to see Morrigan Aensland, Lilith, Kenshin Himura, and Kenshin's group standing a few tables away from them.

"Oh. Now a succubus. Sorry, but I'm married." Slayer remarked, holding up his left hand. Donovan merely looked on.

"Morrigan. Long time." He glanced at the shard in Slayer's hand, "I guess you've come for this, as well?"

"You can read me like a book, Donovan." Morrigan responded with sarcastic camaderie. "I need the shard. Hand it over."

"Sorry, my spoiled lass, but…you've caught my interest." Slayer remarked, standing up. "If you're so wanting of this…fragment, why don't you come and fight me for it? One-on-one, you say?"

"I wouldn't want it any other way: I'm not fond of vampires."

"Oh that hurt. Mr. Baine, please step aside."

Slayer only continued to puff his pipe as Morrigan dashed at him. Donovan, not liking to be ignored, commanded his sword, and swiped at both of them.

Slayer disappeared briefly, evading the sword, only to return later. Morrigan, on the other hand, got slammed by the flat end of the blade, sent barreling back from the impact.

Slayer only rolled his eyes and refilled his pipe: "This is going to be a trying day."

Unseen by the three was a black crow, perched on the heights…

**The Ring**

**Momotaru (Dream TV:World Fighters)**

Momotaru felt incredibly small entering into the match at this moment. He could see the gargantuan forms of Sunshine, Hulk, Optimus, and Earthquake all the way from the entry ramp, the towering colossi bashing at the other competitors with abandon. Even with his bird and dog accompanying him, he knew how Bomberman felt.

The Dream fighters hadn't done so well so far, with Optimus being the only survivor in the ring (And that was partially due to his metallic bulk). Of course, he had to struggle to gather his confidence, as he rolled under the ring ropes.

He noticed Q and Captain America trading blows over by his left, and sent his dog to attack the trenchcoat-clad cyborg. The dog sunk its fangs into his leg, but Q kept at his normal speed as if the dog wasn't even there.

This did not fill Momotaru with an easy feeling.

**Special Man (GWFUM)**

Entering to the NFL theme song, Special Man failed to realize that he was being heckled on his way to the ring.

"Hey, Special Man, do ya room wit' Special Ed? Honestly, there'd let any retard in this match!"

Special Man, ever the soft spoken wrestler, only turned to the heckler, "Now, that's not very nice." He shook his finger, but he decided not to discipline the fellow.

The member of the Big Bombers tag-team told himself he should go for Sunshine, but he merely ran into the ring, hopped over the dimensional vortices and the ropes, and without losing any steam, tackled the nearest competitor he came across.

Unfortunately, that was Venom.

As Venom quickly handed the football-gimmick wrestler's head to him, The Hyuugas, their evil eyes both activated, could feel a sudden surge of energy welling from the center of the ring. Dark Sakura also could feel the rise in chi as she stopped her fight with the surprisingly rampant Roll temporarily; She quickly Recovered to evade another powered-up Roll Buster. Geese felt a pulse of power delve in the arena, as he casually parried Rock's fist and slammed him again into the ring.

The next demon was on his way…

**Blackheart (MVC2)**

The center of the ring erupted with a hole of fire and brimstone, with lesser demons and imps popping out of the gateway to hell. Rising out of the pit was the son of Mephisto, the freakish, blue-black skinned Blackheart, his eyes cackling as a flame, his arms crossed haughtily over his chest, as he surveyed the ring.

Blackheart had risen.

"Let the wrath of Blackheart fall upon you knaves! For my father, the match is mine!"

His hands crackled with electricity with his dark boasts, as the warriors not entangled in a fight-Makoto, Politank Z, Ralf Jones, Sango, Maki-stepped forward to his challenge.

"Ha."

The bolts of dark lightning flew across the ring, spearing other fighters, as the demon prince caused the anarchy he felt destined to bring. The group gathered to face him was instantly scattered across the ring, electrocuted by the essence of a thousand evils.

"So many knaves…who will die first?" Blackheart mused, continuing to blast away the competition. He noted Maki not too far away, and remembered his ploy.

However, he was rammed from the side in mid-thought, as the next entrant made its entrance during the melee…

**Guilmon (Digimon Rumble Arena)**

Rather than see a small, crimson-scaled reptile probably up to his foot in height, Blackheart noticed a large, red-and-sliver armored knight-like creature, with lance in hand, standing by him, as the culprit.

"So…you're interested in suicide, paladin?"

"Gallantmon does not fall to evil-doers like you!"

Of course, if Gallantmon's actions were as strong as his words, Blackheart would have fallen. Instead, the son of Mephisto responded in the only way he felt was appropriate: A blast of an icy inferno from below.

"Ah, but there's a first time for anything, creature."

Meanwhile, back at the commentator's booth,

"Is the kid in the ring or not?" Crinos asked.

"You mean Takato?" O'Neal responded.

"Yeah."

"In his current form, Gallantmon is both a combination of Takato and Guilmon-A unique form of 'digi-volution' for the Digimon Tamers. I'm afraid that is perfectly legal, though. It'd be like taking Haohmaru's sword or Batman's gadgets."

"Oh. But when they 'de-volve'. Get the damn kid out."

"Why do you think Luffy is still down there?"

**The Ring**

Monkey D. Luffy, despite being lost in the anarchy of the whole battle royale, was able to keep himself from being torn, blasted, crushed, crunched, burned, iced, or obliterated from the salvo of attacks of the respective competitors. In fact, he was eating a box of Cracker Jack as the next entrant entered, accompanied by a chorus of resounding booes.

**Pagan (War Gods)**

"WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GODS SUCK! WAR GODS SUCK!"

Pagan was so narcissistic that she failed to interpret they were talking about her. Drunk in the haze of the ore in a way not dissimilar to the USA Team, she merely saw everything like as if she had tunnel vision: That, despite the quick exits of her previous comrades (If you wished to call them comrades), Pagan saw none of the fighters in the ring as a potent threat.

She made the mistake of stepping in Zero's slice-n-dice way, as he was still chasing Sean around the ring. A second or two later, Pagan was on the ground, with several slashes-for-tattoos for her troubles.

**Spider-Man (MvC 2)**

Spider-Man! Spider-Man!

Doing best what a spider can!

Spidey grinned under his mask to hide his nervousness as he listened to his theme song. The Spectacular Wall Crawler chose to swing his way into the ring, soaring above the cheering crowd as he flew with an acrobat's ease. The roars of the crowd were very similar to the response of Optimus Prime before him, only the little kids dawned on their Spider-man masks in adulation.

The freelance hero landed easily onto one of the turnbuckles, and he surveyed the fight. His reactions were vintage of him: quick and witty.

"Hey, have you called Richard Simmons recently?" Spidey shouted at the obese Earthquake, whose ninja speed allowed him to keep track of both the shy Hinata Hyuuga and the arrogant Neji Hyuuga. In spite of the two-pronged attack and his own enormity, the mercenary thief was able to get the better of the two leaf ninja, due namely to his durability.

Seeing that Earthquake wasn't getting the idea, Spidey promptly fired his web fluid onto his back.

This time the Texas bandit noticed. "What in tar nation?"

"Let's whip that flab to fab, big fella!" Spidey shouted, firing a string of web fluid at Earthquake's eyes, before pouncing on his chest, punching as he went. The obese ninja, taken by surprise, staggered back as the red-and-blue clad superhero smashed away. Neji and Hinata nearby stopped briefly to witness the assault of the Web Slinger, before getting the crap out of the way of a flying Optimus Prime, slammed again by Sol Badguy.

Sol looked over the giant-esque Autobot, then turned to the genin.

"You'd be Hinata." The Corrupt Flame said, pointing at Hinata.

"Y-yes."

"All right. I'm takin' you in."

In one second and a roar, Sol activated the _Dragon Install_. In the next,Hinata gritted her teeth as she narrowly avoided a sword slash from the bounty hunter. She was not having a pleasant day.

Neji saw the situation, and tried to intervine, only to get nailed in the mouth by Makoto, who also wasn't having a pleasing day.

Meanwhile, across the ring, Venom looked up from his fight with Special Man. He quickly dodged a _Starry Night Tackle_, before diving in with a _Venom Fang_.

"Parker…"

Venom bound the wrestler with his own webbing, and stalked the occupied hero.

**IGP return room**

You have to give credit to Washu's genius. Due to the overload of the increase of fighters but the addition of the dimensional vortex as an out-of-bounds pit, The bigwigs of the Grand Prix had to quickly devise a teleporter to return eliminated combatants back from whatever dimension they were sent to upon their eliminations. The porter was placed inside the hospital ward, namely so that anyone crucially-maimed, killed, or (In Vance McMadd's case in the previous section) utterly obliterated, could be quickly treated.

This worked fine right off, as Washu was able to quickly and efficiently construct a one-way, teleportation pad (not to dissimilar from the skeletons of Mega Man X: Command Mission) which returned the contestants back to the demiplane after fifteen minutes have elapsed. To ensure that no faults occur, Kiyone (In a merciful action to put distance between her and the catastrophe-prone Mihoshi) oversaw the returns of the eliminated, and escorted them to the eliminated seatings.

Kiyone was promptly brought out of her fantasies when the Prince of Darkness, Demitri Maximov, stepped through the vortice, a number of Hulk-fist-sized bullet holes in his Romanian regalia.

"Hold on a minute! You need-"

"I don't need to be examined, human! Be gone from my sight!"

Demitri had matters to tend to, far more important than even a quick drink; The idea of being catered didn't exactly appeal to him at the moment.

Kiyone quickly got the hell out of the way as the vampire lord tossed a Chaos Flare in her direction, intending to get her out of the way.

"Hmmph. Now, that's taken care of…"

"Excuse me."

Demitri looked up, slowly dusting himself off from his prior life-or-death scuffle with Alucard, and saw a azure-armored knight standing at the door. Normally he would have ignored him, but he could quickly sense the demonic energy radiating from his person.

"Oh. A knight of evil…perhaps. Or a reformed fool seeking glory. Doesn't matter. I have no time for games."

"You are Demitri, are you?" the knight asked, a German-accent articulating his words.

"I am. And what of it, peon?"

"My name is Nightmare. I have a quick question for you."

"I don't have time-"

"Does the name 'Morrigan', have any meaning to you, creature?"

That stopped Demitri in his tracks.

Oh what the hell. He still had to wait for the bounty hunter.

"You have three minutes, knight. Don't waste my time."

**IGP Ring**

As the old enemies jockeyed for another chance at victory (Spidey unaware of this), the lights began to dim to a crimson haze. Blue lightning flashed and lights shattered near the entrance way. The crowd, in one of its few occasions so far, grew eerily silent, like as if a High-noon showdown was about to take place. Most of the fighters could feel a demonic energy (Aside of Blackheart's) pulsing from just behind the curtain, as melancholy, fatalistic organs boomed, announcing the arrival of the next contestant…

**Leona (KOF '01)**

Leona it was, and yet it was clearly not. Gone was the no-nonsense, blue-haired, military, ass-kicking lady member of the Ikari warriors. Standing in her place was a woman, hunched over slightly, clearly growling like a lioness. Her hair shined a bubble-gum pink, and lightning danced among her army outfit, to further indicate change. But something even more surprising hit the fan, something which was very familiar.

Kabuto was walking next to her.

**IGP Booth**

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! Didn't they learn the first time!" Crinos flipped out.

O'Neal only looked calmly at his fellow commentator, "Why are you ripping your hair out, chap?"

"First Jedah and now this!" Crinos muttered. "Where's Vash when I need him?"

"Hold on. You said someone was there?"

"Yes!"

"Well, you must have contacts: I can't see anyone. Knives is there, I see, but not anyone else, save Leona."

Crinos looked again. Sure enough, only a security guard stood where the bespectacled Kabuto once was.

"Aw man, I need a drink."

Back down at the entry way, Kabuto, disguised as Million Knives, sighed a breath of relief as he walked with her. If he had waited a moment longer to use the Art of Transformation, then he might have been evicted from the ring area. That would've made Orochimaru unhappy. Very, very unhappy.

"When you get in there," Kabuto whispered, "Stay in as long as you can. The priest and Orochimaru want a clean dominion for the prize, and the gems too."

"Urrrggghhhh….." Leona growled.

"Go."

The Orochi scion leapt into the ring, right between Dark Sakura and Tainted Roll. In a movement that would require NFL-style instant replay to observe fully, the possessed Leona smashed her heel into Sakura's jaw while simultaneously dropping Roll with a Hulk-esque lariat. She moved to the next target with berserker strength and speed, punting Politank Z across the stage and dropping a spare mine or two of the Howard family.

An explosion later and Orochi Leona grinned.

"Now, I know you're human," Optimus started, having recovered from the attack of Sol Badguy, "But that's enough from you."

Leona jumped out of the way of Prime's descending fist, before lashing back. While powered up considerably, Leona didn't quite have the sting of the Guilty Gear.

Optimus quickly batted her off with a backhand.

**IGP Hotel**

"She has turned out better than I expected." Goentiz remarked as she watched the fight.

"But it seems that she's being thrashed by the robot." Orochimaru said absently.

"Ah. That is to be expected. But it doesn't matter. My prize will trump the real adversaries, in the least."

Orochimaru didn't say anything. He didn't send Kabuto to accompany Leona for the priest's sake…

**Mud Man (World Fighters Turbo)**

Rabid cheers greeted the wild world fighter, as he whooped in unison with his respective cult following, boogying to the adulation like Naruto before him. In a quick action, the Polynesian mounted himself on a second tribal mask, and surfed down to the ring, resulting in more cheers.

At the edge, he quickly flipped into the air, and smashed his mask upside Ralf Jones's head. Ralf, having already been frozen, burned, electrocuted, and slammed into the ground multiple times, promptly crunched into the ground. He didn't flinch as Mud Man whooped his sentiment.

Meanwhile, up in the commentator's booth…

"Something isn't right." Crinos started

"Oh?" O'Neal remarked, looking over to his play-by-play broadcaster.

"Ralf ain't no damn superhuman, even when he's drunk. Sure, he's got the Galatica Phantom, but even then he has to be healthy enough to fight. He's taken more mortal injuries than Wolverine has in his damn career, and yet he's still able to compete?"

"Well…its only Mud Man."

"Its Geese, Rock, Blackheart, Orochi Leona, Politank Z, and Mud Man, O'Neal."

"Oh. Sorry then, Chap. I'll send Edward to investigate."

And the Final Fighter of the Section…

**Mewtwo (Super Smash Brothers)**

Mewtwo did not bother with the entry way: Rather the Pokemon clone opted to merely teleport into the center of the ring, without the fanfare that the Sports Team set up with his music.

That planted him dead in the center of the Hulk-Sunshine brawl, which ever since the dMp's veteran's entry, had been Hulk on the offense, Sunshine on the defense. The Jade giant and the gold goliath both froze in mid-swing, each aiming to maim, as Mewtwo planted himself in the nexus.

His lips did not move, but his words were cold and clear: "Go away."

Mewtwo's hands shot out, parting Sunshine and Hulk away from him like the Red Sea. Sunshine crashed into the ring post, while Hulk almost took off Neji and Makoto's heads off.

"This is boring." The psychic pokemon stated plainly.

"Really?" a colder voice remarked. Blackheart stomped forward, dragging Gallantmon across the canvas and nonchalantly shooting a bolt of _Dark Lightning _at an incoming Sango. "You can crush a pair of infidels, but a demon…you cannot even touch me."

"Correction: It is I that cannot be touched." Mewtwo retorted, his eyes blurring the trademark blue.

Blackheart tossed Gallantmon at the psychic, who only raised a lazy hand to stop him from hitting, levitating the Digimon in mid-air.

"If you want to try."

"My pleasure." Blackheart made to move, but he was promptly struck by a convoy of Maki, Sunshine, and Sango. Likewise, Hulk quickly _Gamma Charged _into Mewtwo's exposed back, forcing him into the air.

The brawl degenerated into a freakish melee.

**IGP Fan Festival**

Gaara had been many things in his relatively short life, murderer, noble scion, and Sand ninja being at the top of the list. In his younger days he stiffly tolerated his brother and sister at best and issued death threats at worst. He lived for blood, for according to his own distorted philosophy, it was the only proof that his person was real. As such, his monologue, his history, had been branded into his young mind, immortalized perhaps due to its dramatic flair.

He had expected many things: Being branded a psychopathic murderer was on the top of the list, and considering he was a preteen, that _was _saying something. On the other hand, his audience could very well have ended up in the rubber room beside him.

"…And that was how my old philosophy, to kill to prove my existence, as all other people in the world are merely waiting to be killed, came to being." Gaara explained, finishing the dapper tale of his life before he met Naruto Uzumaki. Elena, not perturbed in the least, her cup of coffee perhaps chilling over with time's flight, hung onto his words.

"And then what happened?"

Gaara had to admit that even he found Elena's constant smiling unnerved him; it reminded him far too much of Rock Lee.

"Then…I met Naruto. A boy like myself-two of a kind. I have Shusaku in my body; Naruto has the Nine-Tailed Fox. He showed me a different road…one without the killing. His existence countered my philosophy, and such one of our ways had to die." Gaara drank some of his coffee as he broke from his words. "His way lived."

Gaara really found the whole social sphere incredibly difficult and taxing. He was trying, but associating with a ninja was one thing; associating with a hyper-friendly African chick that probably didn't need coffee on the other hand...

"And then?"

"That's all there really is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is." Gaara argued.

"Then why'd ya go round with the Orlando Bloom-wannabe?"

"Who's Orlando Bloom?"

"The guy with the lightsaber."

"Oh…Slash…A ninja mission."

Elena opted not to pry. She knew Ibuki, and information, as such, wasn't something shinobi handed out easily. The Street Fighter found herself at an impasse, and looked lazily around the festivities to alleviate her boredom. She wanted to have fun with the serious Gaara.

And then her eyes lit up.

"Lets go over here!" She grabbed the unsuspecting Gaara's wrist, and with strength that was normally unsound (The red-headed sand-nin blushing slightly along then way), Elena dragged him over to an acade game.

Gaara took one look at the game, Then looked back at Elena, then again at the game. He responded with coarse language that he could only have picked up from his elder siblings, but date or not, this course of action was out of the question.

"Hell no."

"Oh, what harm will it do?"

"I said no."

"Please?"

Gaara looked at her, then again at the game. It read _Dance Dance Revolution_.

"Damn you, Uzumaki."

WHO WILL WIN?

WHO WILL DIE?

AND WILL SEAN GET A NEW ONE TORN BY ZERO?


	18. Section 7 voteform

**IGP Section Seven Vote Form**

There are 30 fighters in the following section: Please distribute 10 live votes and 10 die votes, as per usual.

Note: Due to the small number of voters and in order to give the older fighters a fighting chance, the fatigue vote rule shall be voided until further notice.

Big Guy Alert: Geese Howard, Hulk, Optimus Prime, Earthquake, Sunshine, and Mewtwo all count as big guys, so an additional six competitors will be eliminated (Totaling 16 eliminated fighters). PLEASE distribute 10 live votes and 10 die votes as normal. Vote with 15 live and die votes will be ignored.

Q

Hinata Hyuuga

Sakura Kusagano

Captain America

Makoto

Zero

Geese Howard

Rock Howard

Sango

Hulk

Venom

Optimus Prime

Earthquake

Neji Hyuuga

Roll

Politank Z

Sunshine (B)

Sol Badguy

Maki

Ralf Jones

Sean

Momotaru

Special Man

Blackheart

Guilmon

Pagan

Spider-Man

Orochi Leona

Mud Man

Mewtwo

Bonus Fights:

Night Stalked: Morrigan Aensland (MVC2) & Donovan Baine (DS3) vs. Slayer (GGXX)

Loser's Lunacy: Ranma Saotome (Ranma Battle) vs. Chipp Zanuff (GGXX)

All submissions Due:


End file.
